Dennis Bong
Ohio State University, OH·Chemistry
RNA does far more than carry genetic messages: it folds into three-dimensional shapes, partners with proteins, and controls when and where genes are used. Studying and drugging RNA is difficult, however, because most chemical tools recognize only the classic Watson-Crick base pairs of a double helix, not the irregular bulges, loops and triple-stranded contacts that give folded RNA its shape and function.
- Fields
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Biology
- Topics
RNA structure
non-canonical base pairing
base triples
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Synthesize bifacial peptide nucleic acid probes that bind U-rich internal loops in folded RNA by forming base triples, and test how broadly this loop motif works as a general targeting handle in structured RNAs.
- Validate fluorogenic FLURIL probes for tracking tagged RNAs inside living cells, benchmarking performance against MS2 labeling, the current gold-standard method for following individual RNA molecules.
- Test whether proximity-labeling PLURIL probes, which attach biotin to nearby proteins, can correctly identify the protein partners of known RNA-protein complexes and then reveal unknown ones.
- Apply URIL-targeting probes to ALS disease biology in patient-derived cells, focusing on C9orf72 RNA in C9-ALS and U1 small nuclear RNA in FUS-linked juvenile ALS, whose mechanisms appear distinct.
- Build and rank a library of peptide-derived reagents for binding non-canonical RNA motifs using enzymatic and functional assays, then measure their selectivity for structural motifs in native RNAs in vitro and in cell culture.
More about the research
Work in this lab develops synthetic molecules that bind these non-standard RNA structures selectively, with two connected goals: using them as tags to watch and chemically label specific RNAs and RNA-protein complexes inside living cells, and building a general chemical rulebook for targeting any irregular RNA motif.
Why it matters
Disrupted RNA biology is central to several neurodegenerative diseases with poor treatment options, including ALS. Chemical probes that bind a chosen folded RNA motif could let researchers track specific disease-linked RNAs and identify their protein partners in patient-derived cells, and more precise RNA-targeting reagents could inform future diagnostics or therapies with fewer off-target effects than current approaches.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Bruce Armitage
Carnegie Mellon University, PA·Chemistry
Design fluorescent peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes that bind unmodified C9orf72 repeat RNAs, so these RNAs can be seen in biomolecular condensates by microscopy.
James MacKay
Elizabethtown College, PA·Chemistry
Design and synthesize new PNA nucleobases that improve pi-pi stacking of the peptide nucleic acid strand within PNA-double-stranded RNA triple helices, strengthening binding.
Benjamin Partridge
University of Rochester, NY·Chemistry
Establish structure-function relationships for amphiphilic molecules that assemble into supramolecular capsules, linking molecular design to assembly and to how well they block amyloid beta fragments from forming fibers.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
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