Modeling ligand docking to RNA in the design of RNA-based nanostructures.

RNA has grown in biological importance as the discovery of its many functional roles in the cellular machinery has revealed the potential for targeting it to disrupt cancer pathways. RNA structure underlies its functionality and suitability as a nanoparticle building material. Advances in modelling methods have been achieved by the recognition of common structural motifs in natural RNA molecules that can be employed in the prediction of new structures based on sequence information and in design of functional nanostructures.