Natalia A. Kolganova

Targeting duplex DNA with chimeric α,β-triplex-forming oligonucleotides

Triplex-directed DNA recognition is strictly limited by polypurine sequences. In an attempt to address this problem with synthetic biology tools, we designed a panel of short chimeric α,β-triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) and studied their interaction with fluorescently labelled duplex hairpins using various techniques. The hybridization of hairpin with an array of chimeric probes suggests that recognition of double-stranded DNA follows complicated rules combining reversed Hoogsteen and non-canonical homologous hydrogen bonding. In the presence of magnesium ions, chimeric TFOs are able to form highly stable α,β-triplexes, as indicated by native gel-electrophoresis, on-array thermal denaturation and fluorescence-quenching experiments. CD spectra of chimeric triplexes exhibited features typically observed for anti-parallel purine triplexes with a GA or GT third strand. The high potential of chimeric α,β-TFOs in targeting double-stranded DNA was demonstrated in the EcoRI endonuclease protection assay. In this paper, we report, for the first time, the recognition of base pair inversions in a duplex by chimeric TFOs containing α-thymidine and α-deoxyguanosine.

A Universal Base in a Specific Role: Tuning up a Thrombin Aptamer with 5-Nitroindole

In this study we describe new modified analogs of the thrombin binding aptamer (TBA) containing 5-nitroindole residues. It has been shown that all modified TBAs form an anti-parallel G-quadruplex structure and retain the ability to inhibit thrombin. The most advanced TBA variant (TBA-N8) has a substantially increased clotting time and two-fold lower IC50 value compared to the unmodified prototype. Molecular modelling studies suggest that the improved anticoagulant properties of TBA-N8 result from changes in the binding mode of the analog. A modified central loop in TBA-N8 is presumed to participate in the binding of the target protein. Studies of FAM labelled TBA and TBA-N8 showed an improved binding affinity of the modified aptamer and provided evidence of a direct interaction between the modified central loop and thrombin. Our findings have implications for the design of new aptamers with improved binding affinities.

Simple and Stereoselective Preparation of an 4‐(Aminomethyl)‐1,2,3‐triazolyl Nucleoside Phosphoramidite

A simple and stereoselective synthesis of a protected 4‐(aminomethyl)‐1‐(2‐deoxy‐β‐D‐ribofuranosyl)‐1,2,3‐triazole cyanoethyl phosphoramidite was developed for the modification of synthetic oligonucleotides. The configuration of the 1,2,3‐triazolyl moiety with respect to the deoxyribose was unambiguously determined in ROESY experiments. The aminomethyl group of the triazolyl nucleotide was fully functional in labelling reactions. Furthermore, the hybridization behavior of 5′ triazole‐terminated oligonucleotide was similar to that of 5′ aminohexyl‐terminated oligomer with the same sequence. Internal modifications of the oligonucleotide strands resulted in significant decrease of duplex stability.

Anomeric DNA quadruplexes

Thrombin-binding aptamer (TBA) is a 15-nt DNA oligomer that efficiently inhibits thrombin. It has been shown that TBA folds into an anti-parallel unimolecular G-quadruplex. Its three-dimensional chair-like structure consists of two G-tetrads connected by TT and TGT loops. TBA undergoes fast degradation by nucleases in vivo. To improve the nuclease resistance of TBA, a number of modified analogs have been proposed. Here, we describe anomeric modifications of TBA. Non-natural α anomers were used to replace selected nucleotides in the loops and core. Significant stabilization of the quadruplex was observed for the anomeric modification of TT loops at T4 and T13. Replacement of the core guanines either prevents quadruplex assembly or induces rearrangement in G-tetrads. It was found that the anticoagulant properties of chimeric aptamers could be retained only with intact TT loops. On the contrary, modification of the TGT loop was shown to substantially increase nuclease resistance of the chimeric aptamer without a notable disturbance of its anticoagulant activity.

Oligodeoxynucleotides with extended zwitter-ionic internucleotide linkage

Two non-natural nucleoside analogues, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2′,5′-dideoxy-5′-aminothymidine (dTNH) and N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-N-methyl-2′,5′-dideoxy-5′-aminothymidine (dTNMe), have been prepared and used in the synthesis of oligodeoxythymidilates and mixed-sequence oligodeoxynucleotides, modified at internucleotide linkages. Both modified oligodeoxythymidilates and mixed-sequence oligodeoxynucleotides have been shown to form zwitter-ionic phosphate–amine pairs as evidenced by their decreased electrophoretic mobility in denaturing polyacrylamide gel.

Oligonucleotide Analogs with Peptide Internucleotide Linkages

Oligonucleotide analogs containing one or a few glycine, L-, and D-alanine or L-and D-phenylalanine residues instead of phosphodiesterinternucleotide linkages were synthesized. The stability of the duplexes formed by modified oligonucleotides and their wildtype complements was studied. Oligonucleotides with D-alanine residues in internucleotide linkages form duplexes more stable than native ones (ΔTm +0.2°C per modification), whereas other modifications destabilize the duplexes.

Mass-spectrometry analysis of modifications at DNA termini induced by DNA polymerases

Non-natural nucleotide substrates are widely used in the enzymatic synthesis of modified DNA. The terminal activity of polymerases in the presence of modified nucleotides is an important, but poorly characterized, aspect of enzymatic DNA synthesis. Here, we studied different types of polymerase activity at sequence ends using extendable and non-extendable synthetic models in the presence of the Cy5-dUTP analog Y. In primer extension reactions with selected exonuclease-deficient polymerases, nucleotide Y appeared to be a preferential substrate for non-templated 3′-tailing, as determined by MALDI mass-spectrometry and gel-electrophoresis. This result was further confirmed by the 3′-tailing of a non-extendable hairpin oligonucleotide model. Additionally, DNA polymerases induce an exchange of the 3′ terminal thymidine for a non-natural nucleotide via pyrophosphorolysis in the presence of inorganic pyrophosphate. In primer extension reactions, the proofreading polymerases Vent, Pfu, and Phusion did not support the synthesis of Y-modified primer strand. Nevertheless, Pfu and Phusion polymerases were shown to initiate terminal nucleotide exchange at the template. Unlike non-proofreading polymerases, these two enzymes recruit 3′–5′ exonuclease functions to cleave the 3′ terminal thymidine in the absence of pyrophosphate.

Bridge DNA amplification of cancer-associated genes on cross-linked agarose microbeads

AbstractA cross-linked agarose substrate was studied as a 3D support for bridge solid-phase DNA amplification (SPA). In this kind of SPA, primers are immobilized on agarose beads. Flow cell studies of SPA in real-time experiments showed that the amplification efficiency is strongly affected by (a) the presence of a linker between the primer and substrate, and (b) by the loading with primers. In fact, a high loading density may compromise SPA. The analysis of real time SPA curves using geometric growth model highlighted the advantage of 3D agarose support over the flat surfaces. The potential of bridge 3D SPA in DNA diagnostics was successfully demonstrated by on-chip analysis of mutations of the cancer-associated genes BRCA1/2 and CHEK2. Graphical AbstractA cross-linked agarose substrate was studied as a 3D support for bridge solid-phase DNA amplification (SPA). In this kind of SPA, primers are immobilized on agarose beads. The potential of bridge 3D SPA in DNA diagnostics was successfully demonstrated by on-chip analysis of mutations of the cancer-associated genes BRCA1/2 and CHEK2.

Factors Affecting the Tailing of Blunt End DNA with Fluorescent Pyrimidine dNTPs

The transferase activity of non-proofreading DNA polymerases is a well-known phenomenon that has been utilized in cloning and sequencing applications. The non-templated addition of modified nucleotides at DNA blunt ends is a potentially useful feature of DNA polymerases that can be used for selective transformation of DNA 3′ ends. In this paper, we characterized the tailing reaction at perfectly matched and mismatched duplex ends with Cy3- and Cy5-modified pyrimidine nucleotides. It was shown that the best DNA tailing substrate does not have a perfect Watson–Crick base pair at the end. Mismatched duplexes with a 3′ dC were the most efficient in the Taq DNA polymerase-catalysed tailing reaction with a Cy5-modified dUTP. We further demonstrated that the arrangement of the dye residue relative to the nucleobase notably affects the outcome of the tailing reaction. A comparative study of labelled deoxycytidine and deoxyuridine nucleotides showed higher efficiency for dUTP derivatives. The non-templated addition of modified nucleotides by Taq polymerase at a duplex blunt end was generally complicated by the pyrophosphorolysis and 5′ exonuclease activity of the enzyme.

Amino-Functionalized Oligonucleotides with Peptide Internucleotide Linkages

Oligonucleotide analogs with Land D-lysine residues incorporated in internucleotide linkages were synthesized and their affinity toward complementary DNA was studied. Stability of the duplexes formed by the modified oligonucleotides and their wild-type complements appeared to be close to that of the isosequential unmodified duplex, oligonucleotides carrying D-lysine residues forming generally more stable duplexes than L-lysine derivatives.