Antisense and Functional Nucleic Acids in Rational Drug Development

Abstract

This review is focused on antisense and functional nucleic acid used for completely rational drug design and drug target assessment, aiming to reduce the time and money spent and increase the successful rate of drug development. Nucleic acids have unique properties that play two essential roles in drug development as drug targets and as drugs. Drug targets can be messenger, ribosomal, non-coding RNAs, ribozymes, riboswitches, and other RNAs. Furthermore, various antisense and functional nucleic acids can be valuable tools in drug discovery. Many mechanisms for RNA-based control of gene expression in both pro-and-eukaryotes and engineering approaches open new avenues for drug discovery with a critical role. This review discusses the design principles, applications, and prospects of antisense and functional nucleic acids in drug delivery and design. Such nucleic acids include antisense oligonucleotides, synthetic ribozymes, and siRNAs, which can be employed for rational antibacterial drug development that can be very efficient. An important feature of antisense and functional nucleic acids is the possibility of using rational design methods for drug development. This review aims to popularize these novel approaches to benefit the drug industry and patients.