Method for identifying compounds or lead structures against rna target motifs and rna/protein interactions

摘要

Disclosed is a method for identifying compounds (lead structures) which specifically bind to (a) desired RNA target motif and can inhibit or eliminate the function thereof or (b) suppress a compound associated with a desired RNA target motif and can thereby inhibit or eliminate the function thereof. The inventive method is based on the attachment of a ligand (=a compound to be identified) to a RNA target motif which is coupled to a modified ribozyme so that the ribozyme is transformed into an active or inactive conformation resulting in the cleaving of a signal-giving ribozyme substrate. The identified compounds enabling modification of the cellular function of the RNA target motifs enable specific medicaments to be produced. The invention also relates to a polynucleotide comprising a hammerhead ribozyme and an aptamer for a target molecule. The base pairing model of the polynucleotide, when the target molecule binds to the aptamer, is different from the base pairing model of the polynucleotide when the target molecule does not bind to the aptamer.