Patent ID: 7276335

Claim:
A method for designing a compound specifically inhibiting targeted ribonucleic acid function comprising the steps of: (a) determining the nucleotide sequence in the targeted ribonucleic acid that is critical to function; (b) determining the secondary structure of the region of the targeted ribonucleic acid in which the critical site is located; (c) determining the three-dimensional stature of the targeted RNA, including the position of the critical site relative to the major and minor grooves; (d) determining the sequence of nucleotides and structure flanking the critical site in the targeted ribonucleic acid that is specific to the critical region of the ribonucleic acid to be inhibited and within the minor groove; and (e) synthesizing a compound that will bind specifically to the critical site within the minor groove of the targeted ribonucleic acid thereby inhibiting targeted ribonucleic acid function.