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Koralewska N, Corradi E, Milewski MC, Masante L, Szczepanska A, Kierzek R, Figlerowicz M, Baudet ML, Kurzynska-Kokorniak A. Short 2'-O-methyl/LNA oligomers as highly-selective inhibitors of miRNA production in vitro and in vivo. Nucleic Acids Res 2024:gkae284. [PMID: 38676942 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024] Open
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) that share identical or near-identical sequences constitute miRNA families and are predicted to act redundantly. Yet recent evidence suggests that members of the same miRNA family with high sequence similarity might have different roles and that this functional divergence might be rooted in their precursors' sequence. Current knock-down strategies such as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) or miRNA sponges cannot distinguish between identical or near identical miRNAs originating from different precursors to allow exploring unique functions of these miRNAs. We here develop a novel strategy based on short 2'-OMe/LNA-modified oligonucleotides to selectively target specific precursor molecules and ablate the production of individual members of miRNA families in vitro and in vivo. Leveraging the highly conserved Xenopus miR-181a family as proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that 2'-OMe/LNA-ASOs targeting the apical region of pre-miRNAs achieve precursor-selective inhibition of mature miRNA-5p production. Furthermore, we extend the applicability of our approach to the human miR-16 family, illustrating its universality in targeting precursors generating identical miRNAs. Overall, our strategy enables efficient manipulation of miRNA expression, offering a powerful tool to dissect the functions of identical or highly similar miRNAs derived from different precursors within miRNA families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Koralewska
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 61-704, Poland
| | - Eloina Corradi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology - CIBIO, University of Trento, Trento 38123, Italy
| | - Marek C Milewski
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 61-704, Poland
| | - Linda Masante
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology - CIBIO, University of Trento, Trento 38123, Italy
| | - Agnieszka Szczepanska
- Department of Ribonucleoprotein Biochemistry, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 61-704, Poland
| | - Ryszard Kierzek
- Department of Structural Chemistry and Biology of Nucleic Acids, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 61-704, Poland
| | - Marek Figlerowicz
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 61-704, Poland
| | - Marie-Laure Baudet
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology - CIBIO, University of Trento, Trento 38123, Italy
| | - Anna Kurzynska-Kokorniak
- Department of Ribonucleoprotein Biochemistry, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 61-704, Poland
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