No abstract

Phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides containing the C-5 propyne analogs of uridine and cytidine bind RNA with high affinity and are potent antisense inhibitors of gene expression. In a cellular assay, gene-specific antisense inhibition occurred at nanomolar concentrations of oligonucleotide, was dose-dependent and exquisitely sensitive to sequence mismatches, and was correlated with the melting temperature and length of oligonucleotide. Activity was independent of RNA target site and cell type but was detectable only when the oligonucleotides were microinjected or delivered with cell-permeabilizing agents. These oligonucleotides may have important applications in therapy and in studies of gene function.

The sugar moiety of nucleosides in solution is known to exist in a rapid dynamic equilibrium between extreme Northern and Southern conformations as defined in the pseudorotational cycle. In the present work, we describe how the bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane template fixes the ring pucker of 2'-deoxy-methanocarba-nucleosides 1-5 and 12 to values corresponding to either one of these two extreme conformations that are typical of nucleosides. The syntheses of the fixed Northern conformers 1-5 were performed by Mitsunobu coupling of the heterocyclic bases with the chiral carbocyclic alcohol 6 [(1R,2S,4R,5S)-1-[(benzyloxy)methyl]-2-(tert-butyloxy)-4-hydrox ybicyclo[3.1.0]hexane], while the synthesis of the Southern conformer, (S)-methanocarba-T (12), was reported earlier. Carbocyclic thymidine (carba-T, 13) was used as a reference, flexible carbocyclic nucleoside. Antiviral evaluation of these compounds revealed a very potent antiherpetic activity associated with the Northern thymidine analogue 2, which was more powerful than the reference standard acyclovir against both HSV-1 and HSV-2. (N)-Methanocarba-T (2) was further evaluated as a component of a short oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) phosphorothioate (5'-CTTCATTTTTTCTTC-3') where all thymidines were replaced by 2. The expected thermodynamic stability resulting from the preorganization of the pseudosugar rings into a Northern conformation, typical of A-DNA, was evident by the increase in Tm of the corresponding DNA/RNA heteroduplex. However, the rigid A-tract ODN caused loss of RNase H recruitment. A detailed conformational analysis of (N)-methanocarba-T (2) and (S)-methanocarba-T (12), as representative examples of conformationally rigid pseudorotational antipodes, revealed that in addition to their different forms of ring pucker, (S)-methanocarba-T appears to be a rather stiff molecule with fewer low-energy conformational states available compared to (N)-methanocarba-T. The syn/anti-energy barrier for these nucleoside analogues is 5-6 kcal/mol higher than for common nucleosides.