title: Use of RNA in drug design.
abstract: This is a review of RNA as a target for small molecules (ribosomes, riboswitches, regulatory RNAs) and RNA-derived oligonucleotides as tools (antisense/small interfering RNA, ribozymes, aptamers/decoy RNA and microRNA). This review highlights the present state of research using RNA as a drug target or as a potential drug candidate and explains at which stage and to what extent rational design could eventually be involved. Special attention has been paid to the recent potential clinical applications of RNA either as drugs or drug targets. The review deals mainly with mechanistic approaches rather than with physicochemical or computational aspects of RNA-based drug design.
authors.affiliation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium +32 16 337396 ; +32 16 337340 ; irene.lagoja@rega.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Irene M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Lagoja
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herdewijn