Innsbruck researchers suspect that two neomycin B molecules simultaneously bind to the RNA to activate riboswitch function. Credit: University of Innsbruck
How active compounds affect RNA and thus the expression of genes is of great interest for the development of potential therapeutics. Innsbruck chemists have now used a method they recently developed to study the binding of the aminoglycoside Neomycin B to a so-called mRNA riboswitch.
In important cellular processes, ribonucleic acids (RNA) specifically recognize certain proteins or small organic molecules as binding partners. To understand these processes and to advance the development of potential therapeutics targeting RNA, it is important to understand in detail how ligands bind to RNA.
However, one challenge in studies of