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Sackler Prize in Physical Sciences Innovation Prize in Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2019; 58:8973. [PMID: 31148347 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201906251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Sackler Prize in Physical Sciences Innovationspreis der GDCh‐Fachgruppe Medizinische Chemie. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201906251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Menzi M, Wild B, Pradère U, Malinowska AL, Brunschweiger A, Lightfoot HL, Hall J. Towards Improved Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Through Faster Target Binding Kinetics. Chemistry 2017; 23:14221-14230. [PMID: 28746731 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201701670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
When used as inhibitors of gene expression in vivo, oligonucleotides require modification of their structures to boost their binding affinity for complementary target RNAs. To date, hundreds of modifications have been designed and tested but few have proven to be useful. Among those investigated are mono- and polyamino-groups. These are positively charged at physiological pH and have been appended to oligonucleotides in an effort to reduce electrostatic repulsion during hybridization to RNAs, but have generally shown relatively minor benefits to binding. We conjugated spermine to uracils in oligonucleotides via a triazole linker so that the polyamine fits in the major groove of a subsequently formed RNA-duplex. The modifications produced large increases in target-binding affinity of the oligonucleotides. Using surface plasmon resonance-based assays, we showed that the increases derived mainly from faster annealing (kon ). We propose that the spermine fragments play a similar role to that of natural polyamines during oligonucleotide-target interactions in cells, and may be advantageous for oligonucleotides that operate catalytic mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Menzi
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Bettina Wild
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Ugo Pradère
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Anna L Malinowska
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Brunschweiger
- Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund University, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 6, 44227, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Helen L Lightfoot
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan Hall
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
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Pradère U, Halloy F, Hall J. Chemical synthesis of long RNAs with terminal 5'-phosphate groups. Chemistry 2017; 23:5210-5213. [PMID: 28295757 PMCID: PMC5413853 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201700514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Long structured RNAs are useful biochemical and biological tools. They are usually prepared enzymatically, but this precludes their site-specific modification with functional groups for chemical biology studies. One solution is to perform solid-phase synthesis of multiple RNAs loaded with 5'-terminal phosphate groups, so that RNAs can be concatenated using template ligation reactions. However, there are currently no readily available reagents suitable for the incorporation of the phosphate group into long RNAs by solid-phase synthesis. Here we describe an easy-to-prepare phosphoramidite reagent suitable for the chemical introduction of 5'-terminal phosphate groups into long RNAs. The phosphate is protected by a dinitrobenzhydryl group that serves as an essential lipophilic group for the separation of oligonucleotide by-products. The phosphate is unmasked quantitatively by brief UV irradiation. We demonstrate the value of this reagent in the preparation of a library of long structured RNAs that are site-specifically modified with functional groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ugo Pradère
- Institute of Pharmaceutical SciencesDepartment of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zürich8093ZürichSwitzerland
| | - François Halloy
- Institute of Pharmaceutical SciencesDepartment of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zürich8093ZürichSwitzerland
| | - Jonathan Hall
- Institute of Pharmaceutical SciencesDepartment of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zürich8093ZürichSwitzerland
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Jud L, Micura R. An Unconventional Acid-Labile Nucleobase Protection Concept for Guanosine Phosphoramidites in RNA Solid-Phase Synthesis. Chemistry 2017; 23:3406-3413. [PMID: 27943429 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
We present an innovative O6 -tert-butyl/N2 -tert-butyloxycarbonyl protection concept for guanosine (G) phosphoramidites. This concept is advantageous for 2'-modified G building blocks because of very efficient synthetic access when compared with existing routes that usually employ O6 -(4-nitrophenyl)ethyl/N2 -acyl protection or that start from 2-aminoadenosine involving enzymatic transformation into guanosine later on in the synthetic path. The new phosphoramidites are fully compatible with 2'-O-tBDMS or TOM phosphoramidites in standard RNA solid-phase synthesis and deprotection, and provide excellent quality of tailored RNAs for the growing range of applications in RNA biophysics, biochemistry, and biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Jud
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Ronald Micura
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
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Menzi M, Pradère U, Wang Y, Fischer M, Baumann F, Bigatti M, Hall J. Site-Specific Labeling of MicroRNA Precursors: A Structure-Activity Relationship Study. Chembiochem 2016; 17:2012-2017. [PMID: 27577972 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201600370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Functionalized oligoribonucleotides are essential tools in RNA chemical biology. Various synthetic routes have been developed over recent years to conjugate functional groups to oligoribonucleotides. However, the presence of the functional group on the oligoribonucleotide backbone can lead to partial or total loss of biological function. The limited knowledge concerning the positioning of functional groups therefore represents a hurdle for the development of oligoribonucleotide chemical tools. Here we describe a systematic investigation of site-specific labeling of pre-miRNAs to identify positions for the incorporation of functional groups, in order not to hinder their processing into active mature miRNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Menzi
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Ugo Pradère
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Yuluan Wang
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Matteo Fischer
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Fabienne Baumann
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Martina Bigatti
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan Hall
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland.
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