A Boost for the Emerging Field of RNA Nanotechnology

Abstract

This Nano Focus article highlights recent advances in RNA nanotechnology as presented at the First International Conference of RNA Nanotechnology and Therapeutics, which took place in Cleveland, OH, USA (October 23–25, 2010) (), chaired by Peixuan Guo and co-chaired by David Rueda and Scott Tenenbaum. The conference was the first of its kind to bring together more than 30 invited speakers in the frontier of RNA nanotechnology from France, Sweden, South Korea, China, and throughout the United States to discuss RNA nanotechnology and its applications. It provided a platform for researchers from academia, government, and the pharmaceutical industry to share existing knowledge, vision, technology, and challenges in the field and promoted collaborations among researchers interested in advancing this emerging scientific discipline. The meeting covered a range of topics, including biophysical and single-molecule approaches for characterization of RNA nanostructures; structure studies on RNA nanoparticles by chemical or biochemical approaches, computation, prediction, and modeling of RNA nanoparticle structures; methods for the assembly of RNA nanoparticles; chemistry for RNA synthesis, conjugation, and labeling; and application of RNA nanoparticles in therapeutics. A special invited talk on the well-established principles of DNA nanotechnology was arranged to provide models for RNA nanotechnology. An Administrator from National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer discussed the current nanocancer research directions and future funding opportunities at NCI. As indicated by the feedback received from the invited speakers and the meeting participants, this meeting was extremely successful, exciting, and informative, covering many groundbreaking findings, pioneering ideas, and novel discoveries.

Fabrication of 14 different RNA nanoparticles for specific tumor targeting without accumulation in normal organs

“…RNA is versatile in structure and function and even possesses enzymatic activity characteristic of some proteins (Nilsen 2007;Guo 2010;Shukla et al 2011). It can also be designed, predicted, synthesized, and manipulated with a level of simplicity similar to that of DNA (Jaeger and Leontis 2000;Hansma et al 2003;Grabow et al 2011).…”

Crystal structure of 3WJ core revealing divalent ion-promoted thermostability and assembly of the Phi29 hexameric motor pRNA

“…The unique features uncovered from the studies of phi29 pRNA include (1) independent folding of the ATPase gp16 interaction domain (Lee and Guo 2006) and the motor binding domain (Reid et al 1994a,b,c;Zhang et al 1994Zhang et al , 1995b and (2) the capacity to harbor and escort therapeutic functional modules without causing misfolding or loss of function of the incorporated functionalities. These special properties of phi29 pRNA have led to the development of this RNA as a novel vehicle for applications in nanotechnology and medicine (Hoeprich et al 2003;Guo et al 2005aGuo et al , 2006Guo et al , 2012aKhaled et al 2005;Guo 2010;Abdelmawla et al 2011;Shu et al 2011a,b,c;Shukla et al 2011;Zhou et al 2011). Recently, it was found that the core structure of phi29 pRNA, a 54-nt three-way junction (3WJ) (Fig.…”

Triggering RNAi with multifunctional RNA nanoparticles and their delivery

“…The simultaneous introduction of multiple RNAi inducers targeting different genes in conjunction with other functional moieties (therapeutic aptamers, ribozymes, fluorescent dyes, peptides or small molecules) may maximize the synergistic therapeutic effect [35][36][37][38][39][40]. Precise control over the composition and stoichiometry of these combinatorial drugs is essential to guarantee the consistency in batch-to-batch formulations [32].…”