Inhibition of ICAM-1 gene expression by antisense 2',4'-BNA oligonucleotides

Antisense and Functional Nucleic Acids in Rational Drug Development

This review is focused on antisense and functional nucleic acid used for completely rational drug design and drug target assessment, aiming to reduce the time and money spent and increase the successful rate of drug development. Nucleic acids have unique properties that play two essential roles in drug development as drug targets and as drugs. Drug targets can be messenger, ribosomal, non-coding RNAs, ribozymes, riboswitches, and other RNAs. Furthermore, various antisense and functional nucleic acids can be valuable tools in drug discovery. Many mechanisms for RNA-based control of gene expression in both pro-and-eukaryotes and engineering approaches open new avenues for drug discovery with a critical role. This review discusses the design principles, applications, and prospects of antisense and functional nucleic acids in drug delivery and design. Such nucleic acids include antisense oligonucleotides, synthetic ribozymes, and siRNAs, which can be employed for rational antibacterial drug development that can be very efficient. An important feature of antisense and functional nucleic acids is the possibility of using rational design methods for drug development. This review aims to popularize these novel approaches to benefit the drug industry and patients.

Target gene knockdown by 2',4'-BNA/LNA antisense oligonucleotides in zebrafish

Gene knockdowns using oligonucleotide-based approaches are useful for studying gene function in both in vitro cell culture systems and in vivo animal models. We evaluated the efficacy of 2',4'-bridged nucleic acids (BNA)-modified antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) for gene knockdown in zebrafish. We used the tcf7l1a gene as a model for testing the knockdown efficacy of 2',4'-BNA AONs and examined how the target sites/affinity and RNase H induction activity of 2',4'-BNA AONs affect knockdown efficacy. We found that tcf7l1a gene function was knocked down by 2',4'-BNA AONs that target the start codon and induce RNase H activity. Although nonspecific p53-mediated developmental defects were observed at higher doses, the effective dose of the 2',4'-BNA AONs for tcf7l1a is much lower than that of morpholino oligonucleotides. Our data thus show a potential application for 2',4'-BNA AONs in the downregulation of specific genes in zebrafish.

Locked nucleic acid oligonucleotides: the next generation of antisense agents?

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is the term for oligonucleotides that contain one or more nucleotide building blocks in which an extra methylene bridge fixes the ribose moiety either in the C3'-endo (beta-D-LNA) or C2'-endo (alpha-L-LNA) conformation. The beta-D-LNA modification results in significant increases in melting temperature of up to several degrees per LNA residue. The alpha-L-LNA stereoisomer, which also stabilizes duplexes, lends itself to use in triplex-forming oligonucleotides and transcription factor decoys, which have to maintain a B-type (C2'-endo) DNA conformation. LNA oligonucleotides are synthesized in different formats, such as all-LNA, LNA/DNA mixmers, or LNA/DNA gapmers. Essentially, all aspects of antisense technology have profited from LNA due to its unprecedented affinity, good or even improved mismatch discrimination, low toxicity, and increased metabolic stability. LNA is particularly attractive for in vivo applications that are inaccessible to RNA interference technology, such as suppression of aberrant splice sites or inhibition of oncogenic microRNAs. Furthermore, the extreme antisense-target duplex stability (formation of persistent steric blocks) conferred by beta-D-LNA also contributes to the capacity to invade stable secondary structures of RNA targets. The in vivo studies reported so far indeed point to LNA as a promising antisense player at the horizon of clinical applications.

LNA-modified oligonucleotides effectively drive intramolecular-stable hairpin to intermolecular-duplex state

Sequence-specific hybridization of antisense and antigene agent to the target nucleic acid is an important therapeutic strategy to modulate gene expression. However, efficiency of such agents falls due to inherent intramolecular-secondary-structures present in the target that pose competition to intermolecular hybridization by complementary antisense/antigene agent. Performance of these agents can be improved by employing structurally modified complementary oligonucleotides that efficiently hybridize to the target and force it to transit from an intramolecular-structured-state to an intermolecular-duplex state. In this study, the potential of variably substituted locked nucleic acid-modified oligonucleotides (8mer) to hybridize and disrupt highly stable, secondary structure of nucleic acid has been biophysically characterized and compared with the conventionally used unmodified DNA oligonucleotides. The target here is a stem-loop hairpin oligonucleotide-a structure commonly present in most structured-nucleic acids and known to exhibit an array of biological functions. Using fluorescence-based studies and EMSA we prove that LNA-modified oligonucleotides hybridize to the target hairpin with higher binding affinity even at lower concentration and subsequently, force it to assume a duplex conformation. LNA-modified oligonucleotides may thus, prove as potential therapeutic candidates to manipulate gene expression by disruption of biologically relevant nucleic acid secondary structure.

Antisense locked nucleic acids efficiently suppress BCR/ABL and induce cell growth decline and apoptosis in leukemic cells

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) develops when a hematopoietic stem cell acquires the Philadelphia chromosome carrying the BCR/ABL fusion gene. This gives the transformed cells a proliferative advantage over normal hematopoietic cells. Silencing the BCR/ABL oncogene by treatment with specific drugs remains an important therapeutic goal. In this work, we used locked nucleic acid (LNA)-modified oligonucleotides to silence BCR/ABL and reduce CML cell proliferation, as these oligonucleotides are resistant to nucleases and exhibit an exceptional affinity for cognate RNA. The anti-BCR/ABL oligonucleotides were designed as LNA-DNA gapmers, consisting of end blocks of 3/4 LNA monomers and a central DNA stretch of 13/14 deoxyribonucleotides. The gapmers were complementary to the b2a2 and b3a2 mRNA junctions with which they form hybrid duplexes that have melting temperatures of 79 degrees C and 75 degrees C, respectively, in a 20 mmol/L NaCl-buffered (pH 7.4) solution. Like DNA, the designed LNA-DNA gapmers were capable of activating RNase H and promote cleavage of the target b2a2 and b3a2 BCR/ABL mRNAs. The treatment of CML cells with junction-specific antisense gapmers resulted in a strong and specific reduction of the levels of BCR/ABL transcripts ( approximately 20% of control) and protein p210(BCR/ABL) ( approximately 30% of control). Moreover, the antisense oligonucleotides suppressed cell growth up to 40% of control and induced apoptosis, as indicated by the increase of caspase-3/7 activity in the treated cells. Finally, the b2a2-specific antisense gapmer used in combination with STI571 (imatinib mesylate), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of p210(BCR/ABL), produced an enhanced antiproliferative effect in KYO-1 cells, which compared with K562 cells are refractory to STI571. The data of this study support the application of BCR/ABL antisense LNA-DNA gapmers, used either alone or in combination with STI571, as potential antileukemic agents.

Promising nucleic acid analogs and mimics: characteristic features and applications of PNA, LNA, and morpholino

Nucleic acid analogs and mimics are commonly the modifications of native nucleic acids at the nucleobase, the sugar ring, or the phosphodiester backbone. Many forms of promising nucleic acid analogs and mimics are available, such as locked nucleic acids (LNAs), peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), and morpholinos. LNAs, PNAs, and morpholinos can form both duplexes and triplexes and have improved biostability. They have become a general and versatile tool for DNA and RNA recognition. LNA is a general and versatile tool for specific, high-affinity recognition of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and single-stranded RNA (ssRNA). LNA can be used for designing LNA oligoes for hybridization studies or as real time polymerase chain reaction probes in the form of Taqman probes. LNA also has therapeutic and diagnostic applications. PNA is another type of DNA analog with neutral charge. The extreme stability of PNA makes it an ideal candidate for the antisense and antigene application. PNA is used as probe for gene cloning, mutation detection, and in homologous recombination studies. It was also used to design transcription factor decoy molecules for target gene induction. Morpholino, another structural type, was devised to circumvent cost problems associated with DNA analogs. It has become the premier knockdown tool in developmental biology due to its cytosolic delivery in the embryos by microinjection. Thus, the nucleic acid analogs provide an advantage to design and implementation, therapies, and research assays, which were not implemented due to limitations associated with standard nucleic acids chemistry.

Locked nucleic acid: high-affinity targeting of complementary RNA for RNomics

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is a nucleic acid analog containing one or more LNA nucleotide monomers with a bicyclic furanose unit locked in an RNA-mimicking sugar conformation. This conformational restriction is translated into unprecedented hybridization affinity towards complementary single-stranded RNA molecules. That makes fully modified LNAs, LNA/DNA mixmers, or LNA/RNA mixmers uniquely suited for mimicking RNA structures and for RNA targeting in vitro or in vivo. The focus of this chapter is on LNA antisense, LNA-modified DNAzymes (LNAzymes), LNA-modified small interfering (si)RNA (siLNA), LNA-enhanced expression profiling by real-time RT-PCR and detection and analysis of microRNAs by LNA-modified probes.

Downregulation of p21(WAF1/CIP1) and estrogen receptor alpha in MCF-7 cells by antisense oligonucleotides containing locked nucleic acid (LNA)

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is a nucleic acid analog with very high affinity to complementary RNA and a promising compound in the field of antisense research. The intracellular localization and quantitative uptake of oligonucleotides containing LNA were found to be equivalent to those of phosphorothioate oligonucleotides (PS AONs). The antisense efficiency of LNA-containing oligonucleotides was systematically compared with standard PS AONs targeting expression of two endogenous proteins in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, namely, the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1) and the estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha). For downregulation of both target proteins, the most efficient design was achieved with oligonucleotides containing LNA monomers in the extremities and a central gap of PS-linked DNA monomers, so called LNA gapmers. Such LNA gapmers caused more potent downregulation of the targeted proteins than PS AONs, whereas fully modified LNA AONs or LNA mixmers (LNA nucleotides interspersed) were inactive.

Locked nucleic acid: a potent nucleic acid analog in therapeutics and biotechnology

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is a class of nucleic acid analogs possessing very high affinity and excellent specificity toward complementary DNA and RNA, and LNA oligonucleotides have been applied as antisense molecules both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we briefly describe the basic physiochemical properties of LNA and some of the difficulties that may be encountered when applying LNA technology. The central part of the review focuses on the use of LNA molecules in regulation of gene expression, including delivery to cells, stability, unspecific effects, toxicity, pharmacokinetics, and design of LNA oligonucleotides. The last part evaluates LNA as a diagnostic tool in genotyping.

LNA: a versatile tool for therapeutics and genomics

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is a nucleic acid analogue that displays unprecedented hybridization affinity towards complementary DNA and RNA. Structural studies have shown LNA to be an RNA mimic, fitting seamlessly into an A-type duplex geometry. Several reports have revealed LNA as a most promising molecule for the development of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics. For example, Tat-dependent transcription and telomerase activity have been efficiently suppressed by LNA oligomers, and efficient cleavage of highly structured RNA has been achieved using LNA-modified DNAzymes ('LNAzyme'). Furthermore, convincing examples of the application of LNA to nucleic acid diagnostics have been reported, including high capturing efficiencies and unambiguous scoring of single-nucleotide polymorphisms.