RESUMO
AntimiR is an antisense oligonucleotide that has been developed to silence microRNA (miRNA) for the treatment of intractable diseases. Enhancement of its in vivo efficacy and improvement of its toxicity are highly desirable but remain challenging. We here design heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO)-antimiR as a new technology comprising an antimiR and its complementary RNA. HDO-antimiR binds targeted miRNA in vivo more efficiently by 12-fold than the parent single-stranded antimiR. HDO-antimiR also produced enhanced phenotypic effects in mice with upregulated expression of miRNA-targeting messenger RNAs. In addition, we demonstrated that the enhanced potency of HDO-antimiR was not explained by its bio-stability or delivery to the targeted cell, but reflected an improved intracellular potency. Our findings provide new insights into biology of miRNA silencing by double-stranded oligonucleotides and support the in vivo potential of this technology based on a new class of for the treatment of miRNA-related diseases.
Assuntos
DNA de Cadeia Simples/genética , Inativação Gênica , MicroRNAs/genética , Ácidos Nucleicos Heteroduplexes/genética , Oligonucleotídeos Antissenso/genética , Animais , Northern Blotting , DNA de Cadeia Simples/metabolismo , Feminino , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Rim/metabolismo , Fígado/metabolismo , Camundongos Endogâmicos ICR , MicroRNAs/metabolismo , Ácidos Nucleicos Heteroduplexes/metabolismo , Ácidos Nucleicos Heteroduplexes/farmacocinética , Oligonucleotídeos Antissenso/metabolismo , Oligonucleotídeos Antissenso/farmacocinética , RNA Mensageiro/genética , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Baço/metabolismoRESUMO
Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are recognized therapeutic agents for the modulation of specific genes at the post-transcriptional level. Similar to any medical drugs, there are opportunities to improve their efficacy and safety. Here we develop a short DNA/RNA heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO) with a structure different from double-stranded RNA used for short interfering RNA and single-stranded DNA used for ASO. A DNA/locked nucleotide acid gapmer duplex with an α-tocopherol-conjugated complementary RNA (Toc-HDO) is significantly more potent at reducing the expression of the targeted mRNA in liver compared with the parent single-stranded gapmer ASO. Toc-HDO also improves the phenotype in disease models more effectively. In addition, the high potency of Toc-HDO results in a reduction of liver dysfunction observed in the parent ASO at a similar silencing effect. HDO technology offers a novel concept of therapeutic oligonucleotides, and the development of this molecular design opens a new therapeutic field.