Chapter 8 - Small RNA-based systems for sensing and therapeutic applications

Abstract

It is well established that RNA is a particularly suitable medium for engineering molecular sensors such as RNA aptamers and allosteric ribozymes. They can be employed for various biosensing applications such as synthetic control of gene expression, molecule detection, drug discovery, and RNA computing. Besides, RNA sensors are proposed to be used in different therapeutic applications. In this chapter, we present the main engineering methods of RNA aptamers and allosteric ribozymes that are well established. These methods include Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential Enrichment (SELEX) and computation design of allosteric ribozymes and aptamers. We also discussed various applications of allosteric ribozymes for synthetic regulation of gene expression, RNA computing, biosensing, and drug discovery. We also discuss the applications of external-guided sequences and antisense oligonucleotides for the inhibition of specific RNAs in vivo that alters gene expression and can have significant therapeutic applications.