# Developing RNP-MaP into a broad-spectrum toolset for discovery, definition, and drug targeting of RNA-protein complexes in live cells

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $313,520

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
My laboratory is interested in how interactions between RNA and RNA-binding proteins drive diverse biology and
disease, and how these RNA-protein complexes might be targeted to alter their functions. Existing knowledge
includes only a small fraction of protein-RNA interactions in the cell, and we know particularly little of how RNA-
binding proteins cooperate to form complexes on noncoding RNAs, which make up the vast majority of human
transcripts. Further, while pipelines for identifying protein-binding molecules for therapeutic development are
informed by significant understanding of protein structure, there is no existing equivalent for designing small
molecules that target RNA and RNA-binding interfaces. Critically, there remains a lack of straightforward
technologies for discovery, definition, and drug targeting of protein-RNA interactions inside cells.
To illuminate features of RNA-protein complexes and discover new ways to control their functions, my laboratory
is developing a suite of novel live-cell chemical probing technologies based around my unique RNP-MaP
approach (RNA-protein networks analyzed by mutational profiling). By enhancing and modularly extending the
base RNP-MaP framework, we will develop new facile methods for 1) mapping multi-protein networks on RNA
across transcriptomes and identifying associated RNA-binding proteins, 2) mapping transcriptome-wide targets
of RNA-binding proteins while simultaneously measuring RNA site-specific occupancy, and 3) mapping small
molecule RNA-targeting potential inside cells.
Our ultimate goal is to create a set of tools that could enable any medical research laboratory to identify,
characterize, and target any RNA-protein interface relevant to their disease/pathway/model of interest. By
providing the means to probe the uncharted landscapes of RNA-protein networks, this work will be foundational
for expansive new RNA biology discoveries and RNA-targeted therapeutics.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10940606
- **Project number:** 1R01GM155542-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Chase A Weidmann
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $313,520
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-21 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10940606

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10940606, Developing RNP-MaP into a broad-spectrum toolset for discovery, definition, and drug targeting of RNA-protein complexes in live cells (1R01GM155542-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10940606. Licensed CC0.

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