Recent Advances in Developing Small Molecules Targeting Nucleic Acid

• Main Authors: Maolin Wang, Yuanyuan Yu, Chao Liang, Aiping Lu, Ge Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: nucleic acids; nucleic acids targeting; small molecules; DNA drug discovery; RNA drug discovery
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/17/6/779
• ISSN: 1422-0067

Nucleic acids participate in a large number of biological processes. However, current approaches for small molecules targeting protein are incompatible with nucleic acids. On the other hand, the lack of crystallization of nucleic acid is the limiting factor for nucleic acid drug design. Because of the improvements in crystallization in recent years, a great many structures of nucleic acids have been reported, providing basic information for nucleic acid drug discovery. This review focuses on the discovery and development of small molecules targeting nucleic acids.