Introduction of sugar-modified nucleotides into CpG-containing antisense oligonucleotides inhibits TLR9 activation.
Sci Rep
; 14(1): 11540, 2024 05 21.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38773176
ABSTRACT
Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are synthetic single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to RNAs through Watson-Crick base pairings. They are actively being developed as therapeutics for various human diseases. ASOs containing unmethylated deoxycytidylyl-deoxyguanosine dinucleotide (CpG) motifs are known to trigger innate immune responses via interaction with toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). However, the TLR9-stimulatory properties of ASOs, specifically those with lengths equal to or less than 20 nucleotides, phosphorothioate linkages, and the presence and arrangement of sugar-modified nucleotides-crucial elements for ASO therapeutics under development-have not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we first established SY-ODN18, an 18-nucleotide phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide with sufficient TLR9-stimulatory activity. We demonstrated that an unmethylated CpG motif near its 5'-end was indispensable for TLR9 activation. Moreover, by utilizing various sugar-modified nucleotides, we systematically generated model ASOs, including gapmer, mixmer, and fully modified designs, in accordance with the structures of ASO therapeutics. Our results illustrated that introducing sugar-modified nucleotides in such designs significantly reduces TLR9-stimulatory activity, even without methylation of CpG motifs. These findings would be useful for drug designs on several types of ASOs.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Oligonucleotídeos Antissenso
/
Receptor Toll-Like 9
Limite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Japão
País de publicação:
Reino Unido