Conformational change of a nucleotide by a base-pair mimic nucleoside in the complementary DNA strand.

On the basis of the non-covalent bond interactions in nucleic acids, we have synthesized a novel adenosine derivative tethering a phenyl group. Structure and thermal stability of the DNA duplexes bearing the adenosine derivative in the middle of a strand were investigated by CD spectra and the UV melting curves. We found that the conformation and the interactions of the duplexes were similar regardless of the nucleotide facing with the adenosine derivative in a duplex. This observation suggests the base pair-mimic geometry of the adenosine derivative accompanied with a conformational change of the nucleotide in the complementary strand.

DNA conjugates as novel functional oligonucleotides.

Oligodeoxynucleotides with RNA cleavage activity 1) were conjugated with amines and peptides by solid phase fragment condensation (SPFC). It was found that 29 mer DNA enzyme conjugated with spermine at its 5'-end showed higher affinity to the target RNA sequence and 40 times higher activity of cleavage than native DNA enzyme. It is also to be noted that conjugate DNA enzymes showed increased resistance against nuclease digestion.

Synthesis of DNA conjugates by solid phase fragment condensation.

Development of a novel method for the synthesis of DNA conjugates is described. Oligonucleotides were successfully conjugated with a variety of functional molecules on a solid phase (Solid Phase Fragment Condensation) using an amino, a hydroxyl, a thiol, and a carboxyl group. DNA-peptide conjugate was obtained as a pure from by a single RPHPLC purification approximately in 20% yield. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the present method was effective for the preparation of conjugate molecules, DNA-sugar, DNA-polyamine, DNA-lipid and so on. The study to create new intelligent DNAs by accumulation various biofunctions on the molecule by SPFC is now in progress in our laboratory.

Large stacking stability of a base pair-mimic nucleotide on the DNA duplex.

We synthesized novel adenosine derivatives tethering an aromatic hydrocarbon group by an amido linker. The single adenosine derivatives at 5' dangling end stabilized the DNA duplex of 5'-ATGCGCAT-3' more or equally than Watson-Crick base pair. When the number of the dangling residues increased from one to three, the duplex stability became larger by 1.8-3.6 kcal/mol. When the adenosine derivative was opposite to an abasic site in a DNA duplex, the destabilization by the abasic site was significantly reduced. These observations suggest that the adenosine derivatives developed in this study can stack with a DNA base pair by forming a base pair-mimic geometry.

Control of intracellular delivery and inhibition of genetic expression by DNA-peptide conjugates.

Various types of DNA-peptide conjugates were synthesized by solid phase fragment condensation (SPFC). DNA-LNS (nuclear localizing signal) peptide conjugate was proved to be delivered and localized into cellular nucleus and exhibited higher antisense inhibitory effect against telomerase than antisense phosphorothioate DNA. In contrast, DNAzymes conjugated with NES (nuclear export signal) peptide was shown to be taken up and localized in cytoplasm. Inhibitory effect of the conjugate DNAzyme against BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase was evaluated to be more significant than the native DNAzyme.

Large stabilization of a DNA duplex by the deoxyadenosine derivatives tethering an aromatic hydrocarbon group.

Novel deoxyadenosine derivatives tethering a phenyl or naphthyl group by means of an amido linker have been synthesized, and these derivatives, stacking on the 5' end of a DNA duplex, provide free energy contributions equal to or greater than that of the Watson-Crick A/T base pair.