Targeting RNA with cyclic peptides

ORGN 936

Christian Melander and Virginia A. Burns. Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
The ability to target BIV TAR RNA with cysteine-constrained peptides identified through phage selection will be presented. By screening a seven random amino acid library, flanked by two invariant cysteine residues, we are able to identify candidate cyclic peptides that bound to a biotinylated BIV TAR RNA sequence. We also demonstrate by including a negative selection round, where phage that non-specifically bind to random RNA are removed from further rounds of selection, the phage pool can be narrowed to bias the identification of sequence-specific binders.