Covalent and non-covalent binding of metal complexes to RNA

Abstract

Targeting nucleic acids with metal complexes is an exciting and widely explored field of research. Following the discovery of the anticancer drug cisplatin, a number of metal complexes have been designed, synthesised, and tested for their DNA binding properties. On the contrary, the interaction of metal complexes with RNA has been much less investigated. RNA is an essential biomolecule, involved in a variety of crucial cellular functions, which offers a much wider structural diversity than DNA. As such, RNA represents an attractive target for the design and the development of structure-selective therapeutic and diagnostic agents. A few recent publications describe the ability of various metal complexes to interact with RNA, and the binding of cisplatin and derivatives to RNA is being currently investigated. This short review offers an overview of some recent advances on both covalent and non-covalent interactions of metal complexes with RNA and addresses the potential of targeting RNA non-duplex structures.

NSAID-Based Coordination Compounds for Biomedical Applications: Recent Advances and Developments

“…Binding studies with the other nucleic acid, RNA, have been less frequent. Recently, this gap has been filled, due to the advantage that RNA offers much more extensive structural diversity than DNA [ 156 ]. Therefore, one may expect higher specificity of the compound’s interactions with RNA, through RNA-binding sites [ 157 ].…”

Targeting structural features of viral genomes with a nano-sized supramolecular drug

“…The organic intercalator ethidium has been proposed to bind one-base bulges in RNA, 76 and metal complexes bearing a 'phi' intercalator suggested to bind near the TAR bulge from cleavage experiments, though that is not yet well understood at a structural level. [77][78][79][80] This insertion of a three-dimensional structure represents a unique and exciting approach to target RNA structures.…”

Metallo supramolecular cylinders inhibit HIV-1 TAR-TAT complex formation and viral replication in cellulo

“…The diverse 3D shapes of transition metal-based compounds, and their cationic charge make them ideal compounds to target specific nucleic acid structural motifs 9 , although most of the examples reported to date focus on binding DNA; by comparison, the field of RNA recognition by metal complexes is unexplored 10 . There are only a few examples of metal-based-systems that target HIV TAR RNA 11 – 16 or are conjugated to TAR binding organic compounds 17 .…”