title: Natural and artificial binders of polyriboadenylic acid and their effect on RNA structure.
abstract: The employment of molecular tools with nucleic acid binding ability to specifically control crucial cellular functions represents an important scientific area at the border between biochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry. In this review we describe several molecular systems of natural or artificial origin, which are able to bind polyriboadenylic acid (poly(rA)) both in its single-stranded or structured forms. Due to the fundamental role played by the poly(rA) tail in the maturation and stability of mRNA, as well as in the initiation of the translation process, compounds able to bind this RNA tract, influencing the mRNA fate, are of special interest for developing innovative biomedical strategies mainly in the field of anticancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini - CNR, via Mezzocannone 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Roviello
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini - CNR, via Mezzocannone 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy ; Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli "Federico II", 80126 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Musumeci
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale (DICMaPI), Università di Napoli "Federico II", 80125 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Roviello
authors.affiliation: Geomedi University, 3 Krtsanisi Street, 0114 Tbilisi, Georgia.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirtskhalava
authors.affiliation: Geomedi University, 3 Krtsanisi Street, 0114 Tbilisi, Georgia.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Egoyan
authors.affiliation: Geomedi University, 3 Krtsanisi Street, 0114 Tbilisi, Georgia.
authors.forename: Merab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirtskhulava
keywords: RNA; nucleopeptides; poly(rA) binders; self-structures