Volume 21 Issue 10, October 2022

Flush with COVID-19 vaccine success, pharma and biotech companies are moving forward with mRNAs engineered to make therapeutic proteins.

Antibody function is dependent on avidity — the accumulated strength of multiple affinity interactions between the antibody, antigen, cell surface receptors and other antibodies. In this Review, Oostindie et al. discuss the role of avidity in eliciting antibody functional responses and review the current engineering strategies for manipulating avidity interactions in antibody-based therapies.

The potential of therapeutically targeting RNA structures with small molecules is being increasingly recognized. Here, Disney and colleagues review strategies to identify, validate and optimize small-molecule RNA binders. Examples of existing RNA-targeted small molecules, as well as challenges and future directions in the field, are discussed.

Evidence for a fluid clearance pathway in the central nervous system known as the glymphatic system has grown in the past decade. Nedergaard and colleagues overview the evidence for the glymphatic system and its role in disease, and discuss opportunities to harness the glymphatic system therapeutically; for example, by improving the effectiveness of intrathecally delivered drugs.