I. A. Pyshnaya

Hybridization of the Bridged Oligonucleotides with DNA: Thermodynamic and Kinetic Studies

Abstract Hybridization properties of oligonucleotides containing non-nucleotide inserts designed on the basis of synthetic abasic sites, oligomethylene diols or oligoethylene glycols have been characterized. The influence of the inserts which generate extrahelical anucleotidic bulges on thermodynamics, kinetics of hybridization of bridged oligonucleotide with DNA has been studied by UV-melting and stopped-flow techniques. Circular dichroism spectrometry data show that anucleotidic bulges in the middle of the duplex does not alter the B-form helix conformation. Nevertheless, the insert induces destabilization of the duplex structure, caused mostly by the considerable enhancement of the dissociation rates. Free energy increments for the extrahelical anucleotidic bulges can be described in the nearest-neighbor approximation. The thermodynamic effect of the insert lengthening obeys a simple Jacob- son-Stockmayer entropy extrapolation. Independently of the insert type, the free energy term is directly proportional to the logarithm of the number of bonds between the oligo- nucleotide fragments. The behavior of hydrophobic inserts formed by 10-hydroxydecyl-1-phospate units is an exception to the rule.

Interaction of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 with apurinic/apyrimidinic sites within clustered DNA damage

To study the interaction of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) with apurinic/apyrimidinic sites (AP sites) within clustered damages, DNA duplexes were created that contained an AP site in one strand and one of its analogs situated opposite the AP site in the complementary strand. Residues of 3-hydroxy-2-hydroxymethyltetrahydrofuran (THF), diethylene glycol (DEG), and decane-1,10-diol (DD) were used. It is shown for the first time that apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) cleaves the DNA strands at the positions of DEG and DD residues, and this suggests these groups as AP site analogs. Insertion of DEG and DD residues opposite an AP site decreased the rate of AP site hydrolysis by APE1 similarly to the effect of the THF residue, which is a well-known analog of the AP site, and this allowed us to use such AP DNAs to imitate DNA with particular types of clustered damages. PARP1, isolated and in cell extracts, efficiently interacted with AP DNA with analogs of AP sites producing a Schiff base. PARP1 competes with APE1 upon interaction with AP DNAs, decreasing the level of its cross-linking with AP DNA, and inhibits hydrolysis of AP sites within AP DNAs containing DEG and THF residues. Using glutaraldehyde as a linking agent, APE1 is shown to considerably decrease the amount of AP DNA-bound PARP1 dimer, which is the catalytically active form of this enzyme. Autopoly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of PARP1 decreased its inhibitory effect. The possible involvement of PARP1 and its automodification in the regulation of AP site processing within particular clustered damages is discussed.

Comparison of Behaviour in Different Liquids and in Cells of Gold Nanorods and Spherical Nanoparticles Modified by Linear Polyethyleneimine and Bovine Serum Albumin

Gold nanorods (GNRs) are considered one of the most promising forms of nanoparticles for nanobiotechnology; however, the problem of their toxicity is currently not resolved. We synthesised GNRs, modified with linear polyethyleneimine (PEI-GNRs), and examined their physicochemical and some biological properties in comparison with GNRs modified with BSA and spherical gold nanoparticles (sGNPs) modified with the same agents. The influence of the buffer, cell culture media, and serum on hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential of all GNPs was studied. Simultaneously, the size, shape, and formation of a corona were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). PEI-GNRs and GNPs were nontoxic for BHK-21 and HeLa cells (MTT test). Penetration of all GNPs into BHK-21, melanoma B16, and HeLa cells was examined after 30 min, 3 h, and 24 h of incubation using TEM ultrathin sections. PEI-GNRs and PEI-sGNPs demonstrated fast and active penetration into cells by caveolin-dependent and lipid raft-mediated endocytosis and accumulated in endosomes and lysosomes. BSA-modified GNPs showed prolonged flotation and a significant delay in cell penetration. The results show that the charge of initial NPs determines penetration into cells. Thus, the designed PEI-GNRs were nontoxic and stable in cell culture media and could efficiently penetrate cells.

Thermodynamic Analysis of Stacking Hybridization of Oligonucleotides with DNA Template

Abstract Contiguous stacking hybridization of oligodeoxyribonucleotides with DNA as template was investigated using three types of complexes: oligonucleotide contiguously stacked with the stem of the preformed minihairpin (complexes I), oligonucleotide tandems containing two (complexes II) or three (complexes III) short oligomers with a common DNA template. Enthalpy ΔH° and entropy ΔS° of the coaxial stacking of adjacent duplexes were determined for GC/G*pC, GT/A*pC, AC/G*pT, AT/A*pT, CT/A*pG, AG/C*pT, AA/T*pT and TT/A*pA nicked (*) dinucleotide base pairs. The maximal efficiency of co-operative interaction was found for the GC/G*pC interface (ΔG°NN/N*pN=-2.7 kcal/mol) and the minimal one for the AA/T*pT interface (ΔG°/NN/N*pN=-1.2 kcal/mol) at 37 °C. As a whole, the efficiency of the base pairs interaction ΔG°NN/N*pN in the nick is not lower than that within the intact DNA helix ΔG°NN/NN). These observed the ΔG°NN/N*pN values are proposed may include the effect of the partial removal of fraying at the adjacent helix ends additionally to the effect of the direct stacking of the terminal base pairs in the duplex junction (ΔG°NN/NN. The thermodynamic parameters have been found to describe adequately the formation of all tandem complexes of the II and III types with oligonucleotides of various length and hybridization properties. The performed thermodynamic analysis reveals features of stacking oligonucleotide hybridization which allow one to predict the temperature dependence of association of oligonucleotides and the DNA template within tandem complexes as well as to determine optimal concentration for formation of these complexes characterized by high co-operativity level.

The Influence of the Non‐Nucleotide Insert on the Hybridization Properties of Oligonucleotides

The effect of different non‐nucleotide inserts incorporated into oligonucleotide chains on their hybridization properties was studied by the method of thermal denaturation. Various types of alkyldiols and oligoethylene glycols were used as inserts modifying oligonucleotide backbone. Such modification of oligonucleotides caused the destabilization of their complementary complexes. It was shown that the hybridization properties of the modified oligonucleotides depend on several features of inserts: the type, number, length of insertions, and positions of interrupted dinucleotide steps in oligonucleotide chain.

Thermodynamic parameters for calculating the stability of complexes of bridged oligonucleotides.

211 The efficiency of use of oligonucleotide constructs largely depends on optimality of selection of their structure. Directed constructing of sequence-specific ligands based on oligonucleotides and their derivatives is possible only if a physicochemical description is made, which characterizes the relationship between the structure and stability of complexes formed. To date, the corresponding parameterization has been done only for native duplex structures of DNA [1] and RNA [2], as well as for a very narrow set of complexes of oligonucleotide derivatives and their analogues [3, 4].

Bent dsDNA with defined geometric characteristics in terms of complexes of bridged oligonucleotides

An opportunity of designing nontypical double-stranded DNA structures containing nonnatural inserts in a regular nucleotide DNA sequence has been investigated. The looped nucleotide inserts on the basis of adenylates and thymidilates, and nonnucleotide inserts on the basis of phosphodiesters of diethyleneglycol, 1,10-decanediol, and 3-hydroxy-2(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydrofuran were introduced into the backbone of a 32-mer native DNA duplex. These inserts formed the internal loops in the modified double-stranded DNA fragments which were shown to lead to bending of the linear duplex structure by 16 to 83 degrees. The dependencies of the bend angle of dsDNA on the composition and the length of the looped regions were determined. It was established that the bend of the irregular region of dsDNA depended on the electrostatic interaction of the phosphate residues. The tension in the complex structure could be reduced by the introduction of additional nucleotide units opposite the loop, which led to some relaxation of the bent helix. The resulting parameters of the bend values were shown to be in a good agreement with the published data obtained by NMR spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that the variation of the nature or the length of the insert allowed one to regulate the level of the local perturbation of the duplex structure and, thereby, influence both the bend level of the double helix and the destabilization of the modified complex.

Enhancement of a Hybridization Analysis Efficiency by the Controlled DNA Fragmentation

The influence of a DNA amplicon fragmentation on the efficiency of detecting a specific sequence by heterophase hybridization analysis was investigated. The nucleotide sequence was detected colorimetrically after biotinylation of an oligonucleotide probe immobilized on a solid carrier via limited elongation in complex with the sample DNA with the use of Taq polymerase. Two simple and reproducible techniques of amplicon fragmentation were proposed. The techniques are based on the introduction of apurinic/apyrimidinic sites in DNA and their subsequent thermal degradation. DNA was depurinated by a mild acidic treatment. Apyrimidinic sites were generated by treating a DNA fragment containing dUMP in place of some dTMP in various proportions with uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG). The DNA sample treated by either method proved to be suitable for hybridization analysis with Taq polymerase without additional purification. The efficiency of hybridization analysis was higher with the fragmented than with the native DNA amplicon. DNA fragmentation makes it possible to use bridged oligonucleotides, having a lower hybridization ability, as highly selective hybridization probes.

Oligonucleotide Conjugates Designed for Discriminative Hybridization at Physiological Temperature

Abstract We report the synthesis of oligonucleotide conjugates engineered to allow discriminative hybridization at temperatures around physiological. Two types of structural modifications were introduced: 1) internal oligomethylene and oligoethylene glycol spacers, and 2) terminal phenazinium residues. The thermal denaturation behaviour of the complexes formed by these oligonucleotide conjugates with a target sequence is compared to that of natural duplexes. We observed a lowering of the Tm of the duplexes formed by the internal modified oligonucleotides, whilst the terminal phenazinium residues enhance their stability. The effect of the spacers is modulated by their length and hydrophobic or hydrophilic nature. Alkylating substituents, which modify the target DNA strand on hybridization, were introduced on all conjugates, and the target cleavage obtained after piperidine treatment used as a further indicator of hybridization.

Bioluminescent reporters for identification of gene allelic variants

A method for single nucleotide polymorphism identification was developed, which was based on the primer extension reaction (PEXT) followed by bioluminescent solid-phase microassay. Recombinant Ca2+-regulated photoprotein obelin and coelenterazine-dependent Renilla muelleri luciferase were used as reporters. The study was performed as an example of SNP genotyping of the human F5 gene encoding human Factor V Leiden polymorphism 1691 G→A (R506Q). Genomic DNA was amplified by PCR using primers flanking polymorphic site of 140 base pairs. PCR products were used as templates for two PEXT reactions using two primers containing 3′-terminal nucleotides, which were complementary to either normal or mutant alleles. If the template and allele-specific primer were completely complementary, the latter was elongated with DNA polymerase. The resulting extension product contained biotin residue due to the presence of biotinylated deoxyuridine triphosphate (B-dUTP) in the reaction mixture. The products were analyzed using obelin-streptavidin conjugates. The optimal PEXT-reaction conditions were found, which ensured a high reliability of SNP genotyping. A new approach to simultaneously revealing both alleles in one well was developed using two bioluminescent reporters. The efficiency of the proposed approach was shown in the study of clinical DNA samples.