Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Inactive
Active
(a)
(b)
Linked structure
(c)
Figure 5.5
(See companion CD for color igure.)
.RNA-stabilized.structures..The.RNA-binding.properties.demonstrated.
in.Figure.5.4.can.also.be.used.to.activate.structures.through.ligand.interactions..For.example,.the.addition.of.a.
small.RNA.“activates”.the.RNA.structure.(a).through.stabilization.of.a.bulge,.creating.the.active.structure.(b)..
Several.of.these.RNA-activating.structures.could.be.linked.together.to.create.a.construct.that.would.activate.
individually.and.independently.with.different.RNA.interactions.(c).
advancing. rapidly.. The. most. popular. way. seems. to. incorporate. RNA. in. nanosized.
delivery.vehicles.(Chen.et.al..2010;.Afonin.et.al..2011)..Figure.5.5.illustrates.a.possible.future.
application. for. RNA. nanoscaffolds.. The. idea. is. to. design. an. RNA. structure. that. attains.
“active”.state. only. in. the. presence. of. another.single-stranded. RNA. (e.g.,.ncRNA). or. any.
other.biomolecule..The.active.structure.in.turn.creates.a.binding.region.for.a.luorophore,.
which.remains.inactive.in.the.unbound.state.(Paige.et.al..2011,.2012)..This.can.be.potentially.
extended. into. a. multicomponent. heterogeneous. system. like. a. nanoring. or. a. nanocage,.
in. which. each. component. can. be. designed. to. target. a. certain. biomarker,. like. ncRNAs,.
and.each.component.is.associated.with.a.unique.luorophore-like.molecule..This.cocktail.
can.essentially.be.utilized.as.a.diagnostic.tool..RNA,.being.primarily.single.stranded,.has.
more.versatile.cellular.functions/interactions.than.DNA,.and.can.be.a.better.candidate.for.
an.
in vivo
.nanomachine.
