title: Riboswitches: From living biosensors to novel targets of antibiotics.
abstract: Riboswitches are generally located in 5'-UTR region of mRNAs and specifically bind small ligands. Following ligand binding, gene expression is controlled mostly by transcription termination, translation inhibition or mRNA degradation processes. More than 30 classes of known riboswitches have been identified by now. Most riboswitches consist of an aptamer domain and an expression platform. The aptamer domain of each class of riboswitch is a conserved structure and stabilizes specific structures of the expression platforms through binding to specific compounds. In this review, we are highlighting most aspects of riboswitch research including the novel riboswitch discoveries, routine methods for discovering and investigating riboswitches along with newly discovered classes and mechanistic principles of riboswitch-mediated gene expression control. Moreover, we will give an overview about the potential of riboswitches as therapeutic targets for antibiotic design and also their utilization as biosensors for molecular detection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Molecular Medicine Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: mehdizadehe@tbzmed.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Elnaz
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mehdizadeh Aghdam
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Molecular Medicine Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Saeid
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hejazi
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Fundamental Sciences (RIFS), University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran; The School of Advanced Biomedical Sciences (SABS), Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Abolfazl
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barzegar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D058928:Riboswitch / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D058928:Riboswitch
keywords: Antibacterials; Biosensor; Drug design; Engineered riboswitches; RNA; Riboswitch