Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(Shu.et.al..2003,.2004)..These.RNA.nanoparticles.could.then.be.used.to.drive.viral.DNA-
packaging.motors.with.modiied.RNA.to.create.RNase-resistant,.biologically.active,.stable.
RNA.for.nanotechnology.(Liu.et.al..2010)..Another.usage.of.viral.RNA.is.the.repurposing.
of.the.viral.capsid.as.a.delivery.vector,.in.this.case.using.the.hollow.MS2.capsid.to.incor-
porate.a.photoactive.porphyrin.as.nanocontainer.(Cohen.et.al..2011).
The.Jaeger.lab.investigates.the.folding.and.assembly.of.RNA.to.improve.prediction.and.
design.of.RNA.tertiary.structures.through.modeling.and.the.principle.of.RNA.architec-
tonics. (Jaeger. 2009),. toward. the. engineering. of. 3D. RNA-based. nanoscaffolds. for. use. as.
building. blocks. for. self-assembly. (Chworos. et. al.. 2004;. Jaeger. and. Chworos. 2006).. This.
has.led.to.the.creation.of.several.RNA.structures,.including.tRNA.polyhedrons.(Severcan.
et. al.. 2010),. nanocubic. scaffolds. (Afonin. et. al.. 2010),. and. nanorings. (Grabow. et. al.. 2011)..
Another.example.showing.the.structural.versatility.of.RNAs.was.shown.by.the.Niu.lab.
(Huang.et.al..2009),.wherein.a.single.aptamer.sequence.produced.three.structurally.unique.
noninterconvertible.RNA.species,.which.also.had.exclusive.functionality.
In.addition.to.the.previously.mentioned.RIP.and.CLIP.techniques.for.RNA.analysis,.the.
ability.to.directly.image.RNA.interactions.would.be.a.powerful.tool..While.some.RNA.
interactions. can. be. viewed. using. the. same. techniques. for. DNA. nanotechnology,. such.
as. AFM. or. electron. microscopy,. they. lack. resolution. on. binding. interactions. essential.
for. understanding. and. evaluating. RNA. nanotechnologies. (Jungmann. et. al.. 2012).. Two.
methods.of.direct.imaging.of.RNA.interactions.rely.on.luorescence.for.demonstrating.
certain.RNA.conformations..These.allow.for.analysis.of.single-molecule.interactions.for.
veriication.of.modeled.structures.and.veriication.of.quaternary.complexes..The.Guo.lab.
has.looked.at.using.both.single-molecule.high-resolution.imaging.with.photobleaching.
(SHRImp). (Gordon. et. al.. 2004). and. single-molecule. luorescence. resonance. energy.
transfer. (smFRET). to. predict. conformational. changes. of. pRNA. upon. binding. to. the.
phage.procapsid.(Shu.et.al..2010)..Mass.spectrometry.has.also.been.used.to.characterize.
RNA.nanoparticles.and.to.investigate.tertiary/quaternary.interactions.(Castleberry.and.
Limbach.2010).
One.area.of.development.for.RNA.nanotechnology.relies.on.RNA-binding.interactions.
for.its.usage.as.an.aptamer..The.lexibility.of.RNA.has.made.it.a.valuable.tool.for.inves-
tigating. nucleotide. interactions. with. various. surfaces. in. addition. to. biological. moieties..
By.adaptively.selecting.for.the.best.RNA.to.bind.a.surface.using.SELEX.(Tuerk.and.Gold.
1990).or.mRNA.display.libraries.(Roberts.and.Szostak.1997),.RNA.can.act.as.a.linker..One.
example. of. this. is. the. work. in. the. Shi. lab. to. use. RNA. aptamers. as. target. molecules. for.
disease.states.which.can.then.be.bound.by.other.molecules.to.act.on.the.cell.(Mallik.et.al..
2010;.Wang.et.al..2010).
One. continuing. pitfall. in. the. use. of. RNA. is. the. presence. of. RNAses. in. any.
in vivo
.
system.. Many. of. the. aforementioned. nanoparticle. systems. seek. to. avoid. this. by. better.
encapsulating.the.structure,.while.other.groups.have.focused.on.chemical.modiication.of.
the.base,.backbone,.and.RNA.cross-linking.to.increase.RNA.stability.(Mathé.and.Périgaud.
2008;.Watts.et.al..2008;.Patra.and.Richert.2009;.Madhuri.and.Kumar.2010)..These.technolo-
gies. have. continued. to. expand. the. biological. applications. of. RNA. as. a. nanotechnology.
tool..By.inserting.artiicially.created.or.modiied.RNA.molecules.into.biological.systems,.
the. lines. between. molecular. biology. and. nanotechnology. for. biological. applications.
continues.to.blur.
RNA. has. been. successfully. used. as. a. companion. to. DNA. nanomachines. in. the. past.
(Zhong. and. Seeman. 2006).. Bioactive. small. molecules. have. been. selected. to. target. RNA.
groups.(Stelzer.et.al..2011)..RNA.as.part.of.a.drug.delivery.system.is.one.area.of.research.
