Our mission at Arrakis is to find small-molecule drugs that bind RNA, or RNA-targeted Small Molecules (rSMs). One of the articles of faith that informs and motivates this mission is that non-ribosomal RNA folds into structures that present small-molecule-compatible pockets and that those structures mediate important biological events. And, just as importantly, that binding of […]
Only a minuscule fraction of the human genome is devoted to encoding proteins, yet proteins provide nearly 100% of the targets for currently marketed drugs. The few exceptions include antisense and RNAi oligonucleotides, some DNA-binding cancer therapeutics such as doxorubicin and cisplatin, and a chemically diverse group of antibiotics that interfere with bacterial protein biosynthesis […]
