RNA drugs and RNA targets for small molecules: Prospects and challenges

Abstract

RNAs are the small molecules that have been inferred in many human diseases and they are important for gene regulation, gene expression, and cellular information transfer. The highly structured elements of the messenger RNA and non-coding RNAs are essential for the functions of the drugs. The small molecules combined with these RNAs provide a possibility to modulate diverse cellular processes therapeutically which incorporate them, who are linked to undruggable protein targets. However, only the linezolid antibiotics are clinically used among all other human-designed small molecules which target the RNA. With the identification of a huge number of small-molecule RNA ligands, the interest in this discipline is expanding. The purpose of this review is to explore the recent advancement with RNA drugs & target RNAs and the challenges for discovering suitable target structures and selective small molecule binders.