C5-azobenzene-functionalized locked nucleic acid uridine: isomerization properties, hybridization ability, and enzymatic stability

Photoresponsive DNA materials and their applications

Photoresponsive nucleic acids attract growing interest as functional constituents in materials science. Integration of photoisomerizable units into DNA strands provides an ideal handle for the reversible reconfiguration of nucleic acid architectures by light irradiation, triggering changes in the chemical and structural properties of the nanostructures that can be exploited in the development of photoresponsive functional devices such as machines, origami structures and ion channels, as well as environmentally adaptable 'smart' materials including nanoparticle aggregates and hydrogels. Moreover, photoresponsive DNA components allow control over the composition of dynamic supramolecular ensembles that mimic native networks. Beyond this, the modification of nucleic acids with photosensitizer functionality enables these biopolymers to act as scaffolds for spatial organization of electron transfer reactions mimicking natural photosynthesis. This review provides a comprehensive overview of these exciting developments in the design of photoresponsive DNA materials, and showcases a range of applications in catalysis, sensing and drug delivery/release. The key challenges facing the development of the field in the coming years are addressed, and exciting emergent research directions are identified.

Azobenzene-modified DNA aptamers evolved by capillary electrophoresis (CE)-SELEX method

Chemically modified aptamers have recently emerged as important materials for nucleic acid based therapeutics and diagnostic tools. Here, we report in vitro evolution of azobenzene-modified DNA aptamers by capillary electrophoresis (CE)-SELEX method. Azobenzene has been considered to be a fascinating functional group due to its trans-cis photo-isomerization property. We harnessed C5-azobenzene-modified 2'-deoxyuridine (dU^Az) as a azobenzene-tethered unit and subjected it to CE-SELEX with human thrombin. The obtained dU^Az-modified aptamer showed strong binding affinity toward human thrombin and could be reversibly photo-isomerized by different wavelengths of light. This work demonstrates that CE-SELEX is a powerful method to obtain chemically modified aptamers and dU^Az is an excellent photo-responsive nucleoside for nucleic acid photo-switches.

Introducing LNAzo: More Rigidity for Improved Photocontrol of Oligonucleotide Hybridization

Oligonucleotide-based therapeutics have made rapid progress in clinical treatment of a variety of disease indications. Since most therapeutic oligonucleotides serve more than just one function and tend to have a prolonged lifetime, spatio-temporal control of these functions would be desirable. Photoswitches like azobenzene have proven themselves as useful tools in this matter. Upon irradiation, the photoisomerization of the azobenzene moiety causes destabilization in adjacent base pairs, leading to a decreased hybridization affinity. Since the way the azobenzene is incorporated in the oligonucleotide is of utmost importance, we synthesized locked azobenzene C-nucleosides and compared their photocontrol capabilities to established azobenzene C-nucleosides in oligonucleotide test-sequences by means of fluorescence-, UV/Vis-, and CD-spectroscopy.

Recent developments in reversible photoregulation of oligonucleotide structure and function

There is a growing interest in the photoregulation of biological functions, due to the high level of spatiotemporal precision achievable with light. Additionally, light is non-invasive and waste-free. In particular, the photoregulation of oligonucleotide structure and function is a rapidly developing study field with relevance to biological, physical and material sciences. Molecular photoswitches have been incorporated in oligonucleotides for 20 years, and the field has currently grown beyond fundamental studies on photochemistry of the switches and DNA duplex stability, and is moving towards applications in chemical biology, nanotechnology and material science. Moreover, the currently emerging field of photopharmacology indicates the relevance of photocontrol in future medicine. In recent years, a large number of publications has appeared on photoregulation of DNA and RNA structure and function. New strategies are evaluated and novel, exciting applications are shown. In this comprehensive review, the key strategies for photoswitch inclusion in oligonucleotides are presented and illustrated with recent examples. Additionally the applications that have emerged in recent years are discussed, including gene regulation, drug delivery and materials design. Finally, we identify the challenges that the field currently faces and look forward to future applications.

Oligonucleotide therapeutics: chemistry, delivery and clinical progress

Oligonucleotide therapeutics have the potential to become a third pillar of drug development after small molecules and protein therapeutics. However, the three approved oligonucleotide drugs over the past 17 years have not proven to be highly successful in a commercial sense. These trailblazer drugs have nonetheless laid the foundations for entire classes of drug candidates to follow. This review will examine further advances in chemistry that are earlier in the pipeline of oligonucleotide drug candidates. Finally, we consider the possible effect of delivery systems that may provide extra footholds to improve the potency and specificity of oligonucleotide drugs. Our overview focuses on strategies to imbue antisense oligonucleotides with more drug-like properties and their applicability to other nucleic acid therapeutics.

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) induced effect on the hybridization and fluorescence properties of oligodeoxyribonucleotides modified with nucleobase-functionalized DNA monomers

LNA and nucleobase-modified DNA monomers are two types of building blocks that are used extensively in oligonucleotide chemistry. However, there are only very few reports in which these two monomer families are used alongside each other. In the present study we set out to characterize the biophysical properties of oligodeoxyribonucleotides in which C5-modified 2'-deoxyuridine or C8-modified 2'-deoxyadenosine monomers are flanked by LNA nucleotides. We hypothesized that the LNA monomers would alter the sugar rings of the modified DNA monomers toward more RNA-like North-type conformations for maximal DNA/RNA affinity and specificity. Indeed, the incorporation of LNA monomers almost invariably results in increased target affinity and specificity relative to the corresponding LNA-free ONs, but the magnitude of the stabilization varies greatly. Introduction of LNA nucleotides as direct neighbors into C5-pyrene-functionalized pyrimidine DNA monomers yields oligonucleotide probes with more desirable photophysical properties as compared to the corresponding LNA-free probes, including more intense fluorescence emission upon target binding and improved discrimination of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These hybrid oligonucleotides are therefore promising probes for diagnostic applications.