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Published on: May 2, 2019
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Self-neutralizing oligonucleotides with enhanced cellular uptake.
Ivan Yanachkov1, Boris Zavizion2, Valeri Metelev3
1ZATA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 60 Prescott St., Worcester, MA 01605, USA. dtabatadze@zatapharmaceuticals.com and GLSynthesis, Inc., One Innovation Drive, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry
|January 12, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed novel oligonucleotide (ON) therapeutics by neutralizing their negative charge with branched charge-neutralizing sleeves (BCNSs). This modification significantly enhances cellular uptake, paving the way for new gene-modulating therapies.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Oligonucleotide (ON) therapeutics show great promise but face challenges in cellular penetration due to their inherent polyanionic nature.
- Efficient delivery of ONs into cells is critical for their therapeutic efficacy and application as research tools.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel strategy for charge neutralization of oligonucleotides (ONs) to improve cellular uptake.
- To synthesize and characterize modified ONs with enhanced delivery properties for therapeutic applications.
Main Methods:
- Attachment of multiple branched charge-neutralizing sleeves (BCNSs) to the internucleoside phosphates of ONs via phosphotriester bonds.
- Optimization of BCNSs with terminal positively charged amino groups for ion pairing with phosphate groups.
- Synthesis using standard automated phosphoramidite chemistry, followed by characterization of yield, purity, solubility, hybridization, and stability.
Main Results:
- Successfully synthesized modified ONs with BCNSs using phosphoramidite chemistry in good yield and purity.
- The modified ONs demonstrated good solubility, hybridization properties, low cytotoxicity, and adequate chemical and serum stability.
- Significantly enhanced cellular uptake was observed for the novel ON derivatives compared to unmodified ONs.
Conclusions:
- The developed BCNS strategy effectively neutralizes ON charge, overcoming a major barrier to cellular penetration.
- These modified ONs exhibit favorable physicochemical and biological properties, making them promising candidates for therapeutic development.
- The novel ON derivatives offer potential as advanced therapeutics or research tools for gene expression modulation.
