Chemistry for the Molecular Evolution of RNA Medicine

The Yamada Lab uses chemistry as a tool to incorporate artificial chemical functional modifications that structurally modulate the RNA molecule, aiming to understand how the modifications affect molecular interactions between RNA and proteins. In any therapeutic RNA modality, chemistry is the core driving force that defines the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of RNA molecules in vivo. While RNA medicine in the liver enabled multiple FDA approvals of RNA medicines, extrahepatic tissue is still a challenge for delivering RNA therapeutic interventions. The Yamada Lab explores a novel chemistry platform that broadly impacts and improves current state-of-the-art strategies for RNA medicines such as siRNA.