Aptamers and riboswitches as models to help tune NMR-based screening methods to find small molecules that target RNA

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The development of drugs which target RNA is challenging as the difficulty associated with examining**potential drug interactions is compounded by RNAs' instability. Also, it has often been an overlooked drug**target and, as such, drug discovery pipelines are typically not designed to include it. However, it has recently**been shown that non-coding RNA structures regulate bacterial growth, survival and virulence making them a**tempting drug target. NMR based drug screening has become an indispensable tool for pharmaceutical**discovery but is still limited in its application with regards to RNA based systems. NMX Research and**Solutions Inc provides NMR based drug screening services to the biotechnology sector. This project seeks to**develop the skills, knowledge base and infrastructure to allow NMX to expand their service line into RNA**based drug discovery. While NMX has several projects for screening of small fragments that bind proteins,**they do not have the expertise to work with RNA. RNA has a reputation of being a molecule very difficult to**work with due to a number of factors: preparation of pure homogenous RNA molecules and avoiding**degradation being to examples. To engage in screening of small molecules binding RNA, NMX will partner**with Dr. Perreault's laboratory to benefit from his expertise in RNA based research. The laboratory of Dr**Perreault works on riboswitches (RNA-receptors) that bind metabolites and are thus excellent models to fine**tune the methodology required to determine interaction of molecules with RNA. The expansion of NMXs'**NMR based drug screening technology into RNA based targets promises to attract new customers and provide**a more comprehensive service for their existing client base.