By far the majority of marketed drugs modulate the activity of proteins. Since the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) over 10 years ago, a major goal has been to develop agents which will selectively block the synthesis of target proteins.…
Blog Archives
Natural Antiviral Proteins Discovered
Viruses are economical with their own genetic information, relying on requisition of host cellular proteins to complete their lifecycle. In a study to identify cellular proteins required by the H1N1 influenza virus, collaborators from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical…
siRNA Experiments Identify Ebola Virus Drug Targets
Antiviral drugs that exclusively target viral factors rather than host cell processes offer the possibility of fewer side effects but at the cost of limiting possible targets and of providing selective pressure for the generation of drug-resistant viral variants. Recent…
Oral Delivery of Short Interfering RNA Molecules
Although many studies have shown the potential for gene silencing using short interfering RNA (siRNA), a major hurdle to the therapeutic use of the technique has been the lack of effective delivery systems. Writing in the journal Nature, researchers at…
Clinical Applications of siRNA
Quark Pharmaceuticals has recently announced that its partner Pfizer has begun a phase II clinical trial of a chemically modified small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecule in patients with diabetic macular oedema. PF-4523655 inhibits abnormal blood vessel growth and leakage independently…
Plk1 in Oncology – the Case Strengthens
Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) has received attention in recent years as a potential target for intervention in cancer. It is known to be important in regulation of cell cycle progression during M-phase and has been shown to be overexpressed in…
