Alteration of target cleavage patterns and off-target reduction of antisense oligonucleotides incorporating 2-N-carbamoyl- or (2-pyridyl)guanine

Abstract

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are therapeutic modalities that are successfully used as pharmaceuticals. However, there remains a concern that treatment with ASOs may cleave mismatched RNAs other than the target gene, leading to numerous alterations in gene expression. Therefore, improving the selectivity of ASOs is of paramount importance. Our group has focused on the fact that guanine forms stable mismatched base pairs and has developed guanine derivatives with modifications at the 2-amino group, which potentially change the mismatch recognition ability of guanine and the interaction between ASO and RNase H. In this study, we evaluated the properties of ASOs containing two guanine derivatives, 2-N-carbamoyl-guanine and 2-N-(2-pyridyl)guanine. We conducted ultraviolet (UV) melting experiments, RNase H cleavage assays, in vitro knockdown assays, and off-target transcriptome analyses using DNA microarrays. Our results indicate that the target cleavage pattern of RNase H was altered by the modification with guanine. Furthermore, global transcript alteration was suppressed in ASO incorporating 2-N-(2-pyridyl)guanine, despite a decrease in the thermal mismatch discrimination ability. These findings suggest that chemical modifications of the guanine 2-amino group have the potential to suppress hybridization-dependent off-target effects and improve ASO selectivity.