Production of truncated protein by the crosslink formation of mRNA with 2'-OMe oligoribonucleotide containing 2-amino-6-vinylpurine

Topological capture of mRNA for silencing gene expression

We describe herein topological mRNA capture using branched oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) with multiple reactive functional groups. These fragmented ODNs efficiently formed topological complexes on template mRNA in vitro. In cell-based experiments targeting AcGFP mRNA, the bifurcated reactive ODNs showed a much larger gene silencing effect than the corresponding natural antisense ODN.

Selective Chemical Modification to the Higher-Order Structures of Nucleic Acids

DNA and RNA can adopt a variety of stable higher-order structural motifs, including G-quadruplex (G4 s), mismatches, and bulges. Many of these secondary structures are closely related to the regulation of gene expression. Therefore, the higher-order structure of nucleic acids is one of the candidate therapeutic targets, and the development of binding molecules targeting the higher-order structure of nucleic acids has been pursued vigorously. Furthermore, as one of the methodologies for detecting the higher-order structures of these nucleic acids, developing techniques for the selective chemical modification of the higher-order structures of nucleic acids is also underway. In this personal account, we focus on the following higher-order structures of nucleic acids, double-stranded DNA containing the abasic site, T-T/U-U mismatch structure, and G-quadruplex structure, and describe the development of molecules that bind to and chemically modify these structures.

Hybridization-specific chemical reactions to create interstrand crosslinking and threaded structures of nucleic acids

The interstrand crosslinking and threaded structures of nucleic acids have high potential in oligonucleotide therapeutics, chemical biology, and nanotechnology. For example, properly designed crosslinking structures provide high activity and nuclease resistance for anti-miRNAs. The noncovalent labeling and modification by the threaded structures are useful as new chemical biology tools. Photoreversible crosslinking creates smart materials, such as reversible photoresponsive gels and DNA origami objects. This review introduces the creation of interstrand crosslinking and threaded structures, such as catenanes and rotaxanes, based on hybridization-specific chemical reactions and their functions and perspectives.

Synthesis of crosslinked 2'-OMe RNA duplexes and their application for effective inhibition of miRNA function

The interstrand crosslinking of nucleic acids is one of the strategies to create the stable complex between an oligonucleotide and RNA by covalent bond formation. We previously reported that fully 2'-O-methylated (2'-OMe) RNAs having the 2-amino-6-vinylpurine (AVP) exhibited an efficient crosslinking to uracil in the target RNA. In this study, we established a chemical method to efficiently synthesize the crosslinked 2'-OMe RNA duplexes using AVP and prepared the anti-miRNA oligonucleotides (AMOs) containing the antisense targeting miR-21 and crosslinked duplex at the terminal sequences. These AMOs showed a markedly higher anti miRNA activity than that of the commercially-available miR-21 inhibitor which has locked nucleic acid (LNA) residues.

Study of the Inducible Cross-Linking Reaction to mRNA and the Effect on the Translation

The 4-vinylpyrimidin-2-one nucleoside (T-vinyl) forms a cross-link with the RNA containing uracil at the complementary site at a high reaction rate. To obtain the stable T-vinyl derivative so that its reactivity is protected until it access to the target site, several derivatives were investigated, and the 2-thiopyridinyl- and 2-thiopyrimidinyl T-vinyl derivatives were determined to be good candidates. The 2-thiopyrimidinyl T-vinyl derivative was found to more efficiently cross-link with mRNA albeit having a better stability than the 2-thiopyridinyl T-vinyl derivative. The investigation using the luciferase (Luc) mRNA, the synthetic mRNA and non-cellular translation system revealed that the translation is terminated at the end of the cross-linked duplex between the mRNA and the oligoribonucleotide (ORN). Thus, the 2-thiopyrimidinyl T-vinyl derivative has successfully demonstrated both a good stability and high efficiency for the cross-linking reaction, and expanded its applicability in biological applications.

Synthesis of native-like crosslinked duplex RNA and study of its properties

A variety of enzymes have been found to interact with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in order to carry out its functions. We have endeavored to prepare the covalently crosslinked native-like duplex RNA, which could be useful for biochemical studies and RNA nanotechnology. In this study, the interstrand covalently linked duplex RNA was formed by a crosslinking reaction between vinylpurine (VP) and the target cytosine or uracil in RNA. We measured melting temperatures and CD spectra to identify the properties of the VP crosslinked duplex RNA. The crosslinking formation increased the thermodynamic stability without disturbing the natural conformation of dsRNA. In addition, a competitive binding experiment with the duplex RNA binding enzyme, ADAR2, showed the crosslinked dsRNA bound the protein with nearly the same binding affinity as the natural dsRNA, confirming that it has finely preserved the natural traits of duplex RNA.

Synthesis of peptide nucleic acids (PNA) with a crosslinking agent to RNA and effective inhibition of dicer

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are structural mimics of nucleic acids that form stable hybrids with DNA and RNA. Due to these characteristics, PNAs are widely used as biochemical tools, for example, in antisense/antigene therapy. In this study, we have synthesized PNAs incorporating 2-amino-6-vinylpurine (AVP) for the covalent targeting of single-stranded DNA and RNA, and evaluated their reactivities for these targets. PNA containing AVP at the N-terminal position showed a high reactivity to uracil in RNA and thymine in DNA at the complementary site with AVP. In addition, the crosslinking reactions to pre-miR122 with PNA containing AVP increased the inhibition effect for the Dicer processing of pre-miR122 in vitro.

A new strategy for site-specific alkylation of DNA using oligonucleotides containing an abasic site and alkylating probes

Selective chemical reactions with DNA, such as its labelling, are very useful in many applications. In this paper, we discuss a new strategy for the selective alkylation of DNA using an oligonucleotide containing an abasic site and alkylating probes. We designed three probes consisting of 2-AVP as a reactive moiety and three kinds of binding moiety with high affinity to duplex DNA. Among these probes, Hoechst-AVP probe exhibited high selectivity and efficient reactivity to thymine bases at the site opposite an abasic site in DNA. Our method is potentially useful for inducing site-directed reactions aimed at inhibiting polymerase reactions.

Crosslinking reactions of 4-amino-6-oxo-2-vinylpyrimidine with guanine derivatives and structural analysis of the adducts

DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) are the primary mechanism for the cytotoxic activity of many clinical anticancer drugs, and numerous strategies for forming ICLs have been developed. One such method is using crosslink-forming oligonucleotides (CFOs). In this study, we designed a 4-amino-6-oxo-2-vinylpyrimidine (AOVP) derivative with an acyclic spacer to react selectively with guanine. The AOVP CFO exhibited selective crosslinking reactivity with guanine and thymine in DNA, and with guanine in RNA. These crosslinking reactions with guanine were accelerated in the presence of CoCl₂, NiCl₂, ZnCl₂ and MnCl₂. In addition, we demonstrated that the AOVP CFO was reactive toward 8-oxoguanine opposite AOVP in the duplex DNA. The structural analysis of each guanine and 8-oxoguanine adduct in the duplex DNA was investigated by high-resolution NMR. The results suggested that AOVP reacts at the N2 amine in guanine and at the N1 or N2 amines in 8-oxoguanine in the duplex DNA. This study demonstrated the first direct determination of the adduct structure in duplex DNA without enzyme digestion.

Development of the crosslinking reactions to RNA triggered by oxidation

In this paper, we have reported a novel oxidation triggered crosslinking nucleobase ATVP (1) and demonstrated that the oxidized form ASVP (2) showed a very fast and selective crosslinking reaction to cytosine in RNA.

The Crosslink formation of 2'-OMe oligonucleotide containing 2-amino-6-vinylpurine protects mRNA from miRNA-mediated silencing

Masking the miRNA binding site: Crosslink-forming oligonucleotide (CFO) was used for target gene-specific inhibition of microRNA (miRNA) functions. This method can interfere with specific miRNA-mRNA interactions by recognizing sequences unique to the 3'-UTR that are inherent in each mRNA.

Fast DNA interstrand cross-linking reaction by 6-vinylpurine

Oligonucleotides that incorporate a reactive moiety to form an interstrand cross-link have been widely studied for their potential toward inhibiting gene expression or as basic tools for chemical biology studies. The 6-vinylpurine (2) newly designed in the current study serves well as a new purine-base moiety for increasing cross-link reactivity to target cytosine. Thus, oligonucleotides containing 6-vinylpurine exhibit a more selective and much smoother DNA cross-linking ability to cytosine than the oligonucleotide analogs derived from 2-amino-6-vinylpurine (1) previously explored.