Therapeutic Applications of Ribonucleases in Cancer and Viral Infections

Ribonucleases (RNases) have emerged as versatile biotherapeutics capable of selectively degrading RNA in malignant or virus-infected cells while sparing normal tissue. In oncology, RNases exploit differences in RNA processing and inhibitor expression to induce apoptosis, alter microRNA profiles and disrupt tumour-promoting signalling pathways. Engineered RNases can be fused to targeting moieties such as antibody fragments to form immunoRNases that deliver catalytic activity precisely to tumour markers. In antiviral applications, certain microbial RNases penetrate infected cells and degrade viral genomes or messenger RNAs, impairing replication without broadly affecting host transcripts. Progress in structure-guided design, delivery vehicles and combination regimens has enhanced the stability, cellular uptake and specificity of RNase-based agents. These advances promise novel, non-mutagenic strategies for treating refractory cancers and emerging viral pathogens, with global relevance for personalised and broad-spectrum therapies.

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Therapeutic Applications of Ribonucleases in Cancer and Viral Infections publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in therapeutic applications of ribonucleases in cancer and viral infections across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ribonuclease (RNase): Enzyme that catalyses the hydrolytic cleavage of RNA molecules.

ImmunoRNase: Fusion protein combining an RNase with an antibody or antibody fragment to target catalytic activity to specific cell surface markers.

Barnase: Extracellular RNase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, often employed in targeted anticancer constructs due to its stability and lack of mammalian inhibitor sensitivity.

Barstar: Natural intracellular inhibitor of barnase that binds with high affinity, used to assemble stable toxin-antitoxin complexes in therapeutic designs.

Binase: Extracellular RNase from Bacillus pumilus with demonstrated selective cytotoxicity against tumour cells and intracellular antiviral activity against RNA viruses.

Cytotoxicity assay: In vitro experimental procedure that quantifies the ability of a compound to kill or inhibit the proliferation of cultured cells.

References

1. Barnase-Barstar Pair: Contemporary Application in Cancer Research and Nanotechnology. Molecules (2021).
2. Bacterial ribonuclease binase exerts an intra-cellular anti-viral mode of action targeting viral RNAs in influenza a virus-infected MDCK-II cells. Virology Journal (2018).
3. The Cytotoxicity of RNase-Derived Peptides. Biomolecules (2020).