Small molecule modifiers of the microRNA and RNA interference pathway.
Recently, the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway has become the target of small molecule inhibitors and activators. RNAi has been well established as a research tool in the sequence-specific silencing of genes in eukaryotic cells and organisms by using exogenous, small, double-stranded RNA molecules of approximately 20 nucleotides. Moreover, a recently discovered post-transcriptional gene regulatory mechanism employs microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of endogenously expressed small RNA molecules, which are processed via the RNAi pathway. The chemical modulation of RNAi has important therapeutic relevance, because a wide range of miRNAs has been linked to a variety of human diseases, especially cancer. Thus, the activation of tumor-suppressive miRNAs and the inhibition of oncogenic miRNAs by small molecules have the potential to provide a fundamentally new approach for the development of cancer therapeutics.
Deiters
Alexander
A
Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8204, USA. alex_deiters@ncsu.edu
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D034622:RNA Interference / Q000187:drug effects*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000096:biosynthesis
C524940:MIRN21 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering