RNA therapeutics
Ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based therapeutics have in recent years emerged as an attractive new technology that holds much promise for the development of a new class of drugs to combat disease. RNA drugs have opened up new avenues for treating diseases through their ability to induce protein coding, inhibit protein translation and their specificity of binding to target molecules. Strategies for RNA therapeutics involve the use of coding RNA, for example in vitro transcribed mRNA, as well as non-coding RNAs—antisense oligonucleotides, siRNAs, miRNAs and RNA aptamers. Various RNA therapeutics are currently under development and a few have been approved for clinical use, such as the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. Whilst RNA therapeutics hold much potential as an intervention strategy, a major hurdle in their application to treat disease is the lack of suitable delivery systems. A key focus research area in developing RNA-based formulations is overcoming nuclease degradation, recognition by the immune system, and optimising their targeted delivery.
This Collection will collate articles investigating all aspects of RNA therapeutics, from development to delivery, including their mechanisms of action and clinical applications.
Editors
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Alfredo Berzal-Herranz
Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine López – Neyra (CSIC), Spain
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Tracy Nissan
University of Sussex, UK
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S. Patrick Walton
Michigan State University, USA
Alfredo Berzal-Herranz is the Senior Research Scientist at Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine López-Neyra, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain. Currently his main research interests are the Structure/Function relationship of viral RNA genomes, and Design and Characterization of RNA molecules as inhibitory tools and therapeutic targets. Dr Berzal-Herranz has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2015.
Tracy Nissan is a Lecturer at the Department of Biomedicine and Biochemistry at the University of Sussex. His main research interests focus is mRNA stability and translation, including the role of stress granules, P bodies and innate immunity in cellular reprogramming especially during infection. Dr Nissan has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2018.
S. Patrick Walton is the C. Robert and Kathryn M. Weir Endowed Associate Professor and Associate Chairperson of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University. His work is focused on the design of diagnostics and therapeutics based upon nucleic acids. Dr Walton has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2021.
