Poster abstracts

Poster number 51 submitted by Keshab Rijal

A New Role for Cisplatin: Probing the Ribosome Structure

Keshab Rijal (Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University), Christine S. Chow (Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University)

Abstract:
The ribosome is a potential target for several classes of antibiotics because of its accessibility and structural diversity. Different classes of antibiotics bind to different sites within the ribosome to inhibit the ribosomal assembly and translation process. Bacteria have become resistant to most of the known antibiotics; therefore, it is important to design and develop new therapeutic agents. The first step towards the development of drugs is to find ideal targets sites that are not only functionally important, but also accessible to various compounds. Knowledge of RNA structure and its relationship to function is also essential for interpretation of the biological mechanisms of RNA action. Most of the available chemical probes are limited to in vitro studies and detection of their reactive sites is challenging. We have utilized a new tool to probe RNA structure. Cisplatin is a well known anticancer drug that forms different adducts with DNA, RNA and proteins. Here, we have used cisplatin to probe accessible guanine residues in RNA model systems, 16S rRNA and the ribosome. This method has several advantages over other chemical probes: the adducts are easily detected, and the probe can be used in vivo.

Keywords: Probing, Cisplatin, Ribosome