Monitoring DNA triplex formation using multicolor fluorescence and application to insulin-like growth factor I promoter downregulation

The ability of a triplex-forming oligonucleotide to recognize T-A and C-G base pairs in a DNA duplex is enhanced by incorporating N-acetyl-2,7-diaminoquinoline

A triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO) can recognize the homopurine-homopyrimidine sequence in DNA duplexes and inhibit the transcription of targeted mRNAs. Recently, we reported that N-acetyl-2,7-diamino-1,8-naphthyridine (^DAN_ac), incorporated into a TFO, has high binding ability and base recognition selectivity for the pyrimidine bases in the purine-rich chain of the DNA duplex at pH 7.4. However, it was found in this study that the difference in the T_m values between the pyrimidine bases and purine bases decreased by more than 4 °C at pH 6.0-7.0. To improve the low base recognition selectivity of the TFO, we designed a new artificial base, ^DAQ_ac, with a quinoline skeleton. The T_m values of the triplexes containing ^DAQ_ac:T-A or ^DAQ_ac:C-G were more than 13 °C higher than those of the triplexes containing ^DAQ_ac:A-T or ^DAQ_ac:G-C at pH 7.4. We also observed that under more acidic conditions (pH 6.0-7.0), the base recognition selectivity of ^DAQ_ac in a triplex was higher than that of ^DAN_ac, although the binding ability of ^DAQ_ac in a triplex was similar to that of ^DAN_ac. Additionally, we found that ^DAQ_ac, incorporated into the TFO, could accurately recognize the ^MeC-G base pair in the hairpin DNA, similar to the C-G base pair.

Double duplex invasion of DNA induced by ultrafast photo-cross-linking using 3-cyanovinylcarbazole for antigene methods

New photoresponsive antigene probes containing^CNVK and^CNU have a high double-duplex invasion capability upon photoirradiation because of the inhibition of photo-cross-linking between the probes.

Selective Preference of Parallel DNA Triplexes Is Due to the Disruption of Hoogsteen Hydrogen Bonds Caused by the Severe Nonisostericity between the G*GC and T*AT Triplets

Implications of DNA, RNA and RNA.DNA hybrid triplexes in diverse biological functions, diseases and therapeutic applications call for a thorough understanding of their structure-function relationships. Despite exhaustive studies mechanistic rationale for the discriminatory preference of parallel DNA triplexes with G*GC & T*AT triplets still remains elusive. Here, we show that the highest nonisostericity between the G*GC & T*AT triplets imposes extensive stereochemical rearrangements contributing to context dependent triplex destabilisation through selective disruption of Hoogsteen scheme of hydrogen bonds. MD simulations of nineteen DNA triplexes with an assortment of sequence milieu reveal for the first time fresh insights into the nature and extent of destabilization from a single (non-overlapping), double (overlapping) and multiple pairs of nonisosteric base triplets (NIBTs). It is found that a solitary pair of NIBTs, feasible either at a G*GC/T*AT or T*AT/G*GC triplex junction, does not impinge significantly on triplex stability. But two overlapping pairs of NIBTs resulting from either a T*AT or a G*GC interruption disrupt Hoogsteen pair to a noncanonical mismatch destabilizing the triplex by ~10 to 14 kcal/mol, implying that their frequent incidence in multiples, especially, in short sequences could even hinder triplex formation. The results provide (i) an unambiguous and generalised mechanistic rationale for the discriminatory trait of parallel triplexes, including those studied experimentally (ii) clarity for the prevalence of antiparallel triplexes and (iii) comprehensive perspectives on the sequence dependent influence of nonisosteric base triplets useful in the rational design of TFO's against potential triplex target sites.

Synthesis and triplex-forming properties of oligonucleotides capable of recognizing corresponding DNA duplexes containing four base pairs

A triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO) could be a useful molecular tool for gene therapy and specific gene modification. However, unmodified TFOs have two serious drawbacks: low binding affinities and high sequence-dependencies. In this paper, we propose a new strategy that uses a new set of modified nucleobases for four-base recognition of TFOs, and thereby overcome these two drawbacks. TFOs containing a 2’-deoxy-4N-(2-guanidoethyl)-5-methylcytidine (d^gC) residue for a C-G base pair have higher binding and base recognition abilities than those containing 2’-OMe-4N-(2-guanidoethyl)-5-methylcytidine (_2’-OMe^gC), 2’-OMe-4N-(2-guanidoethyl)-5-methyl-2-thiocytidine (_2’-OMe^gC_s), d^gC and 4S-(2-guanidoethyl)-4-thiothymidine (^gsT). Further, we observed that N-acetyl-2,7-diamino-1,8-naphtyridine (^DAN_ac) has a higher binding and base recognition abilities for a T-A base pair compared with that of dG and the other DNA derivatives. On the basis of this knowledge, we successfully synthesized a fully modified TFO containing ^DAN_ac, d^gC, 2’-OMe-2-thiothymidine (_2’-OMe^sT) and 2’-OMe-8-thioxoadenosine (_2’-OMe^sA) with high binding and base recognition abilities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which a fully modified TFO accurately recognizes a complementary DNA duplex having a mixed sequence under neutral conditions.