RNA Nanotechnology: methods for synthesis, conjugation, assembly and application of RNA nanoparticles.

摘要

Nanotechnology addresses the creation and application of materials at the nanometer scale using either top-down approaches or bottom-up assembly. In particular, the notion of using DNA as a nanomaterial has led to several publications of exciting research. As an alternative to DNA, RNA has recently catapulted into place as a nanotechnology platform due to its diversity in structure and function. RNA can acquire a wide variety of secondary structures and complementary property which rival and surpass that of DNA. RNA nanoparticles can be fabricated with a level of simplicity characteristic of DNA, yet they possess versatile tertiary structure and catalytic functions that can mimic some forms of proteins. RNA is unique in comparison to DNA by virtue of several properties: higher thermodynamic stability; both canonical and noncanonical base pairing ability as well as a variety of single stranded loops suitable for inter- and intra-molecular interactions; base stacking; and distinct in vivo attributes. Subsequent to the pioneering demonstration that RNA dimer, trimer and hex-amer can be fabricated by re-engineering of RNA molecules , novel properties of RNA nanoparticles have been explored for treatment and detection of diseases and various other applications. Over the last 5 years, there has been an explosion of publications on RNA nanostructures relating to the rapid emergence of RNA nanotechnology .