A common cancer drug binds quickly and firmly to RNA, a finding that has the potential to open new targets for drug delivery with fewer toxic side effects, a new study shows. Researchers have long known that cisplatin, a platinum compound used to fight tumors in nearly 70 percent of all human cancers, attaches to DNA, but its attachment to RNA was thought to be fleeting, says Victoria J. DeRose, professor of bioinorganic chemistry, biophysical chemistry, and chemical biology at the University of Oregon, who decided to take a closer look due to recent discoveries of critical RNA-based cell processes.
