Synopsis

In the past, two major milestones have occurred in pharmaceutical sciences: (1) chemical drugs; (2) protein-based drugs, either composed of proteins or specifically targeting proteins. It is believed the third milestone in pharmaceutics will be RNA drugs and chemical drugs that target RNA. The field of RNA nanotechnology was first realized and demonstrated in 1998 by Chair Peixuan Guo, thus giving birth to this third milestone in pharmaceutical sciences. Since, RNA nanotechnology has grown into a mature field composed of several subfields covered by many disciplines such as chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, biophysics, engineering, and many more. There is need for an all-encompassing conference of RNA nanotechnology that brings together all scientists in the field.

The Fusion RNA Nanotechnology conference has been designed into the following session themes on two merits: (1) key scientific breakthroughs that have the potential to revolutionize the field; and (2) cross-disciplinary approach to solve challenging problems in RNA nanotechnology. 

Key Sessions

1. Biophysical Approaches in RNA Nanotechnology
2. RNA Nanoparticle Structure and Folding
3. RNA Modeling for RNA Nanotechnology
4. RNA Nanoparticles for Therapeutics
5. Image Guided Delivery of RNA Nanoparticles
6. Extracellular RNA for RNA Nanotechnology
7. Nanoimmunology and RNA Nanotechnology

Learning Objectives

The field of RNA nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that has scientist from varying background participating. Therefore there is often a gap between the disciplines in shared knowledge. This Fusion Conference RNA Nanotechnology conference will bring together scientist from chemistry, biochemistry, structural biology, microbiology, cancer biology, cell biology, biophysics, pharmacy, material sciences, nanotechnology, and engineering.  The goal of this conference is to share the most up to date findings of each discipline of RNA nanotechnology between subfields and session themes of the conference. This conference will provide a discussion platform for advancement of researchers and this field to (1) share existing knowledge, technology and platform development in order to set future research objectives; and (2) develop collaborations between scientists within or between disciplines of RNA nanotechnology.

Target Audience

This conference will appeal to scientist throughout the world that focus on the use of RNA in the field of nanotechnology, mainly for therapeutics using RNAi technologies. Previously, Peixuan Guo has chaired three RNA nanotechnology conferences (2015 Gordon Research Conference: RNA nanotechnology, 2013 and 2010 International Conference of RNA Nanotechnology and Therapeutics) that were each well attended with over 200 registered participants. Therefore, with the small number of participants for Fusion Conference, scientist should be well versed in the RNA field and have a strong interest in applying RNA toward nanotechnologies and the treatment of diseases. Within RNA nanotechnology field, there are individuals studying the delivery of the nanoparticles to cancers and other diseases, the structure and function of RNA motifs to be used for nanoparticles, computational modelling and predictions of RNA motifs, and the study of natural exosomal RNAs in the human body.

Educational Need

RNA nanotechnology is a rapidly emerging new field of science. According to PubMed, over 90% of publications with key words “RNA nanostructure” were published since 2006. Many high impact, well-respected journals have included articles focusing on RNA nanotechnology; including, Science, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Methods, Nano Today, PNAS, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, and Nature Protocols. This rapid growth has led for a large amount of new finding and breakthroughs in the field in a rather short period of time. A conference, such as through Fusion, provides a platform for scientist to share their major recent findings, thus providing the field with an in depth view of state of the art technologies. There are currently conferences that focus on nanotechnologies, and nucleic acids; however, these conferences do not focus on RNA nanotechnologies and this conference will allow for a focused intimated discussion of the field. It is a hope that the RNA Nanotechnology conference will not only provide an educational platform, but also promote collaborations between scientist in different subcategories of RNA nanotechnology to further grow and expand the field.

Confirmed Speakers

Dr. Peixuan Guo (Ohio State University)
'ASSEMBLY MECHANISM OF THERMOSTABLE pRNA 3WJ AS POLYMER TO BUILD NANOSTRUCTURES FOR BIOMEDICAL AND MATERIAL SCIENCES'

Prof. Eric Westhof (IBMC-CNRS)
'NON-WATSON-CRICK BASE PAIRS AND RNA ARCHITECTURAL MODULES : BUILDING BLOCKS FOR RNA NANOTECHNOLOGY'

Prof. Xing-Jie Liang (National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China)
'NANOTECHNOLOGY EMPLOYED TO IMPROVE RNAI RESEARCH'

Dr. Bruce A. Shapiro (NIH/National Cancer Institute)
'RNA TOEHOLD INTERACTIONS: THEIR USE IN CONDITIONAL ACTIVATION OF RNA NANOCONSTRUCTS'

Prof. David Lilley (University of Dundee)
‘THE K-TURN : A KEY ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT IN RNA'

Dr. Thomas Hermann (University of Cal, San Diego)
‘CRYSTAL STRUCTURE-GUIDED DESIGN OF RNA NANOARCHITECTURES’

Prof. Jong Bum Lee (University of Seoul)
‘FABRICATION OF RNA-BASED MATERIALS FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS’

Dr. Hao Yan (Arizona State University)
‘SINGLE STRANDED DNA AND RNA ORIGAMI’

Dr. Kirill Afonin (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
‘SELF-RECOGNIZING NUCLEIC ACID-BASED SHAPE SWITCHING NANOPARTICLES: A NEW CONCEPT OF DYNAMIC RNA NANOTECHNOLOGY’

Prof. Dr. Yitzhak Tor (University of California, San Diego)
‘ISOMORPHIC FLUORESCENT NUCLEOSIDES AS BIOPHYSICAL TOOLS’

Dr. Rob DeLong (Kansas State University)
‘COMPARATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE RNA NANOBIO INTERFACE WITH ZINC OXIDE AND OTHER BIO-ELEMENT BASED NANOPARTICLES’

Dr. Carlo Montemagno (University of Alberta)
'TEMPLATE LESS ENZYMATIC SYNTHESIS OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDES WITH SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE PRECISION'

Prof. Shi-jie Chen (University of Missouri)
‘MODELING ION EFFECTS AND COTRANSCRIPTIONAL KINETICS FOR RNA FOLDING’

Prof. Hirohide Saito (Kyoto University)
'SYNTHETIC microRNA SWITCHES & PROTEIN-DRIVEN RNA NANOSTRUCTURED DEVICES TO PROGRAM HUMAN CELL FATE'

Dr. Stuart F.J. Le Grice (National Cancer Institute)
‘SMALL MOLECULE TARGETING OF STRUCTURALLY AND FUNCTIONALLY DIVERSE RNAS’

Dr. Subba Reddy Palli (University of Kentucky)
'RNA INTERFERENCE IN AGRICULTURE: APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES'

Prof. Jeong-Woo Choi (Sogang University)
‘DETECTION OF MIRNA USING NANOMATERIALS BASED ON SPECTROELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNIQUE’

Dr. Francesca Storici (Georgia Institute of Technology)
‘EFFICIENT REPAIR OF A DNA DOUBLE-STRAND BREAK BY HOMOLOGOUS TEMPLATE RNA IN CIS’

Prof. Xiaoting Zhang (University of Cincinnati)
‘OVERCOMING TAMOXIFEN RESISTANCE OF HUMAN BREAST CANCER BY TARGETED GENE SILENCING USING MULTIFUNCTIONAL pRNA NANOPARTICLES’

Dr. Jiehua Zhou  (City of Hope)
‘CELL-SPECIFIC APTAMER-SIRNA NANOCONJUGATES FOR TARGETED HIV-1 THERAPY’

Dr. Subha R. Das (Carnegie Mellon University)
‘DNA- AND RNA-POLYMER HYBRIDS AS NANOTAGS AND NANODELIVERY AGENTS’

Dr. Haibo Hu (Liaoning Pharma-Union Pharmaceutical co. LTD)
'INTRODUCTION OF RNA NANOBIO LTD. AND LIAONING PHARMA-UNION PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY'

Dr. Yizhou Dong (Ohio State University)
‘DEVELOPMENT OF NANOMATERIALS FOR RNA DELIVERY’

Dr. Dan Shu (Ohio State University)
‘SYSTEMIC DELIVERY OF ANTI-miRNA FOR SUPPRESSION OF TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER UTILIZING RNA NANOTECHNOLOGY’

Dr. Farzin Haque (Ohio State University)
'CONTROLLABLE SELF-ASSEMBLY OF RNA DENDRIMERS'

Dr. Richard A. Lease (Ohio State University)
‘RNA NANOTECHNOLOGY IN VIVO: HIGH-THROUGHPUT GENETIC SCREEN FOR TARGETED RNA-RNA INTERACTIONS VIA RATIONALLY DESIGNED STEM-LOOPS’

Dr. Hui Zhang (Ohio State University)  
'SINGLE MOLECULE APPROACH TO STUDY RNA NANOPARTICLES'                     

Asssit. Prof. Michael Ryckelynck (Architecture et réactivité de l'ARN-CNRS)
‘IN VITRO EVOLUTION OF RNA BY HIGH THROUGHPUT FUNCTIONAL SCREENING USING DROPLET-BASED MICROFLUIDICS’

Dr. Shuo Gu (NIH)
'OPTIMAL DESIGN OF shRNA TO REDUCE OFF-TARGET EFFECTS'

Dr. Katja Petzold (Karolinska Institutet)
'CHARACTERIZING TRANSIENT STRUCTURES OF RNA USING NMR'

Dr. Peng Yin (Harvard University)
‘MOLECULAR PROGRAMMING WITH DNA AND RNA’

Dr. Hua Zhu (Ohio State University)
‘A POTENTIAL ROLE OF MICRORNA IN MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY’

Dr. Jianhua Yu (Ohio State University)
'EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC ROLES FOR MICRORNAS IN REGULATING INNATE IMMUNITY AND TUMOR DEVELOPMENT'

Dr. Xiyun Yan (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
'NANOZYMES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN MEDICINE'

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