Hirosuke Tsunoda

Synthesis and Triplex Formation of Oligonucleotides Containing 8-Thioxodeoxyadenosine

For more effective DNA triplex formation under neutral conditions, we synthesized triplex-forming oligonucleotides containing 8-thioxodeoxyadenosine (s(8)dA) residues in place of the protonated deoxycytidines required for the third base pairing with DNA duplexes. Consequently, it was found that s(8)dA exhibited much stronger hybridization ability than dC under neutral conditions when four s(8)dA bases were arranged in a consecutive sequence.

Prediction of the stability of modified RNA duplexes based on deformability analysis: oligoribonucleotide derivatives modified with 2′-O-cyanoethyl-5-propynyl-2-thiouridine as a promising component

We describe a method to predict the stability of a modified RNA duplex. Ten unique modified RNA duplexes showed a linear relationship between the calculated and experimentally determined duplex stabilities.

O-selective condensation using P-N bond cleavage in RNA synthesis without base protection.

In RNA synthesis without base protection, a new method for O-selective condensation with more than 99% selectivity was developed by 6-nitro-HOBt-mediated cleavage of undesired P(III)-N bonds on nucleobase moieties. Moreover, we for the first time succeeded in synthesizing oligoRNAs without base protection.

Fluorescent properties of oligonucleotides doubly modified with an indole-fused cytosine analog and 2-aminopurine.

Single- and double-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) incorporating both 2-aminopurine (2AP) and an indole-fused cytosine analog (PPI) were prepared and studied for their fluorescence properties. PPI and 2AP can be excited simultaneously by irradiation at 300 nm, with emission observed at 500 nm for PPI and 370 nm for 2AP. We demonstrated the utility of these properties in the dual fluorescence labeling of ODNs giving well-separated emission peaks. In addition, both of the fluorescence signals of a doubly modified ODN changed independently, reflecting the local duplex formation at the regions containing 2AP or PPI. Potential applications of this strategy for the dual fluorescence labeling of oligonucleotides with 2AP and PPI include monitoring local structure alterations of functional nucleic acids and the multiplex detection of biologically important nucleic acids.

Development of an efficient method for phosphorodiamidate bond formation by using inorganic salts.

Phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligonucleotides (PMOs) have been extensively applied in antisense strategies for gene regulation because of their high stability in serum and low toxicity. However, chain elongation of PMOs requires long reaction time because few efficient methods have been developed for the formation of phosphorodiamidate bonds. In this Letter, we examined the effect of various additives to improve the reaction efficiency for formation of the phosphorodiamidate bond in the synthesis of PMOs. The addition of certain inorganic salts to the reaction media was found to be more effective. Particularly, lithium bromide was the most effective reagent and led to considerable acceleration (ca. 10-fold improvement).

Biochemical behavior of N-oxidized cytosine and adenine bases in DNA polymerase-mediated primer extension reactions

To clarify the biochemical behavior of 2′-deoxyribonucleoside 5′-triphosphates and oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) containing cytosine N-oxide (Co) and adenine N-oxide (Ao), we examined their base recognition ability in DNA duplex formation using melting temperature (Tm) experiments and their substrate specificity in DNA polymerase-mediated replication. As the result, it was found that the Tm values of modified DNA–DNA duplexes incorporating 2′-deoxyribonucleoside N-oxide derivatives significantly decreased compared with those of the unmodified duplexes. However, single insertion reactions by DNA polymerases of Klenow fragment (KF) (exo−) and Vent (exo−) suggested that Co and Ao selectively recognized G and T, respectively. Meanwhile, the kinetic study showed that the incorporation efficiencies of the modified bases were lower than those of natural bases. Ab initio calculations suggest that these modified bases can form the stable base pairs with the original complementary bases. These results indicate that the modified bases usually recognize the original bases as partners for base pairing, except for misrecognition of dATP by the action of KF (exo−) toward Ao on the template, and the primers could be extended on the template DNA. When they misrecognized wrong bases, the chain could not be elongated so that the modified base served as the chain terminator.

Synthesis of Oligodeoxynucleotides Using Fully Protected Deoxynucleoside 3′-Phosphoramidite Building Blocks and Base Recognition of Oligodeoxynucleotides Incorporating N3-Cyano-Ethylthymine

Oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) synthesis, which avoids the formation of side products, is of great importance to biochemistry-based technology development. One side reaction of ODN synthesis is the cyanoethylation of the nucleobases. We suppressed this reaction by synthesizing ODNs using fully protected deoxynucleoside 3′-phosphoramidite building blocks, where the remaining reactive nucleobase residues were completely protected with acyl-, diacyl-, and acyl-oxyethylene-type groups. The detailed analysis of cyanoethylation at the nucleobase site showed that N3-protection of the thymine base efficiently suppressed the Michael addition of acrylonitrile. An ODN incorporating N3-cyanoethylthymine was synthesized using the phosphoramidite method, and primer extension reactions involving this ODN template were examined. As a result, the modified thymine produced has been proven to serve as a chain terminator.

Development of new DNA triplex triads by using 5-substituted deoxycytidine

We developed a new artificial DNA triplex triad which has the adenine nucleobase in the first strand. This triplex triad (A-psi-C*) is composed of adenine, pseudouridine and 5-sudstituted cytosine as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strand nucleobases, respectively. The molecular design and synthesis of the nucleobases for the 2nd and 3rd strand of the triplex are also described.

Synthesis and triplex formation of oligonucleotides containing 8-thioxodeoxyadenosine and 5-methyl-2-thiodeoxycytosine.

For more effective DNA triplex formation under neutral conditions, we synthesized triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFO) containing 8-thioxodeoxyadenine (s(8)A) residues in place of the protonated cytosines (Cs) required for the third base pairing with DNA duplexes. Consequently, it was found that s(8)A exhibited much stronger hybridization ability than C under neutral conditions when four s(8)A bases were arranged in a consecutive sequence. Moreover, we also synthesized TFOs containing 5-methyl-2-thiocytosines and examined their ability of triplex formation.

Synthesis and hybridization properties of oligonucleotides having 4-N-(pyrrol-2-ylcarbonyl)deoxycytidine

A new 4-N-acylated deoxycytidine derivative, 4-N-(1H-pyrrol-2-ylcarbonyl)deoxycytidine, was synthesized and found to be stable under rather basic conditions. Oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) incorporating this modified deoxynucleoside at various positions were successfully synthesized by using a pivaloyloxymethyl (POM) group for protection of the pyrrole residue. The POM group was removed by treatment with 1.5 M NaOMe/MeOH. ODNs containing modified deoxycytidines exhibited hybridization properties superior to those of the unmodified ODNs. We found the acylation of the cytosine base with an aromatic acyl-type substituent led to significant increase of the thermo stability of DNA duplexes. This is the first noteworthy observation in this kind of modification. The synthesis and hybridization properties of 4-N-(1H-pyrrol-2-ylcarbonyl)deoxycytidine derivatives will be also reported.