Project

Synthesis of furan-modified nucleic acid probes for the development of new RNA target identification strategies.

Code
3S007318
Duration
01 January 2018 → 21 July 2021
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
No data available
Keywords
nucleic acid probes
 
Project description

To date, it would be impossible to image a world without drugs. However, have you ever thought about the working mechanism of a drug in the body or with which specific molecules this drug interacts? When developing a drug, this is the first question that needs to be addressed. Most approved drugs to date interact with certain proteins, however other interaction partners are required to expand the scope of treatable diseases. New identified drug targets are ribonucleic acids (RNAs) and the need exist for the development of drugs that either interact with a certain RNA or acts as an RNA mimic. However, this is only possible when all the different interaction partners of that specific RNA are known. Our research therefore focuses on the identification of such RNA interaction partners, more specifically a subclass of these RNAs called long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are correlated with diseases like cancer. A methodology will be developed to pull the lncRNA and its targets out of a complex environment, enabling its identification.