siRNA and RNAi optimization

The discovery and examination of the posttranscriptional gene regulatory mechanism known as RNA interference (RNAi) contributed to the identification of small interfering RNA (siRNA) and the comprehension of its enormous potential for clinical purposes. Theoretically, the ability of specific target gene downregulation makes the RNAi pathway an appealing solution for several diseases. Despite numerous hurdles resulting from the inherent properties of siRNA molecule and proper delivery to the target tissue, more than 50 RNA-based drugs are currently under clinical testing. In this work, we analyze the recent literature in the optimization of siRNA molecules. In detail, we focused on describing the most recent advances of siRNA field aimed at optimize siRNA pharmacokinetic properties. Special attention has been given in describing the impact of RNA modifications in the potential off-target effects (OTEs) such as saturation of the RNAi machinery, passenger strand-mediated silencing, immunostimulation, and miRNA-like OTEs as well as to recent developments on the delivery issue. The novel delivery systems and modified siRNA provide significant steps toward the development of reliable siRNA molecules for therapeutic use. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.The work is supported by grants of the European Commission (NMP4-LA-2011-262943, MULTIFUN), the Spanish Ministry of Economy (CTQ2014-52588-R, RTC-2014-2038-1), Generalitat de Catalunya (2014/SGR/624) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CB06_01_0019) with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund.Peer reviewe

RNA modified with acyclic threoninol nucleic acids for RNA interference

Upon the discovery of the RNA interference pathway, the development of nucleic acids derivatives for therapeutic purposes has soon caught the attention of biomedical researchers. Although synthetic small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been extensively used to downregulate any protein-coding mRNA, several key issues still remain unsolved. The acyclic threoninol nucleic acid (aTNA), placed at certain siRNA positions, is a useful modification to reduce the oligonucleotides vulnerability towards nucleases. In addition, it can be exploited to avoid several OFF-target effects that limit the biological safety of the RNAi-based agents.We thank the European Union (NMP4-LA-2011-262943, MULTIFUN), the Spanish MINECO (CTQ2014-52588-R and CTQ2014-61758-EXP), and the Generalitat de Catalunya for funding this research. CIBER-BBN is financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through an initiative funded during the VI Plan Nacional 2008-2011, the Ingenio 2010, the Consolider Program, and the CIBER Action.Peer reviewe

RNA/aTNA chimeras: RNAi effects and nucleases resistance of single and double stranded RNAs

The RNA interference pathway (RNAi) is a specific and powerful biological process, triggered by small non-coding RNA molecules and involved in gene expression regulation. In this work, we explored the possibility of increasing the biological stability of these RNA molecules by replacing their natural ribose ring with an acyclic L-threoninol backbone. In particular, this modification has been incorporated at certain positions of the oligonucleotide strands and its effects on the biological properties of the siRNA have been evaluated. In vitro cellular RNAi assays have demonstrated that the L-threoninol backbone is well tolerated by the RNAi machinery in both double and single-stranded fashion, with activities significantly higher than those evinced by the unmodified RNAs and comparable to the well-known phosphorothioate modification. Additionally, this modification conferred extremely strong resistance to serum and 3′/5′-exonucleases. In view of these results, we applied this modification to the knockdown of a therapeutically relevant human gene such as apolipoprotein B ( ApoB). Further studies on the activation of the innate immune system showed that L-threoninol-modified RNAs are slightly less stimulatory than unmodified RNAs.This study was supported by the European Union (MULTIFUN, NMP4-LA-2011-262943), the Spanish Ministry of Education (CTQ2010-20541), Generalitat de Catalunya (2009/SGR/208). CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&i Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. We are indebted to Elisa Pedone for her helpful advice and for providing technical assistance.Peer reviewe

Cationic vesicles based on non-ionic surfactant and synthetic aminolipids mediate delivery of antisense oligonucleotides into mammalian cells

A formulation based on a synthetic aminolipid containing a double-tailed with two saturated alkyl chains along with a non-ionic surfactant polysorbate-80 has been used to form lipoplexes with an antisense oligonucleotide capable of inhibiting the expression of Renilla luciferase mRNA. The resultant lipoplexes were characterized in terms of morphology, Zeta potential, average size, stability and electrophoretic shift assay. The lipoplexes did not show any cytotoxicity in cell culture up to 150. mM concentration. The gene inhibition studies demonstrated that synthetic cationic vesicles based on non-ionic surfactant and the appropriate aminolipid play an important role in enhancing cellular uptake of antisense oligonucleotides obtaining promising results and efficiencies comparable to commercially available cationic lipids in cultured mammalian cells. Based on these results, this amino lipid moiety could be considered as starting point for the synthesis of novel cationic lipids to obtain potential non-viral carriers for antisense and RNA interference therapies.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grant CTQ2010-20541), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2009/SGR/208) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CB06_01_0019). CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&i Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. The authors wish to thank CIBER-BBN Research Infrastructures, in particular S. Vilchez and C. Fornaguera from the Nanostructured liquid characterization unit for the characterization and stability measurements of the lipoplexes by Dynamic Light Scattering. Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU) is gratefully acknowledged.N

Small vault RNA1-2 modulates expression of cell membrane proteins through nascent RNA silencing

Gene expression can be regulated by transcriptional or post-transcriptional gene silencing. Recently, we described nuclear nascent RNA silencing that is mediated by Dicer-dependent tRNA-derived small RNA molecules. In addition to tRNA, RNA polymerase III also transcribes vault RNA, a component of the ribonucleoprotein complex vault. Here, we show that Dicer-dependent small vault RNA1-2 (svtRNA1-2) associates with Argonaute 2 (Ago2). Although endogenous vtRNA1-2 is present mostly in the cytoplasm, svtRNA1-2 localises predominantly in the nucleus. Furthermore, in Ago2 and Dicer knockdown cells, a subset of genes that are up-regulated at the nascent level were predicted to be targeted by svtRNA1-2 in the intronic region. Genomic deletion of vtRNA1-2 results in impaired cellular proliferation and the up-regulation of genes associated with cell membrane physiology and cell adhesion. Silencing activity of svtRNA1-2 molecules is dependent on seed-plus-complementary-paired hybridisation features and the presence of a 5-nucleotide loop protrusion on target RNAs. Our data reveal a role of Dicer-dependent svtRNA1-2, possessing unique molecular features, in modulation of the expression of membrane-associated proteins at the nascent RNA level

Modulation of the RNAi pathway by chemically modified siRNA molecules

[spa] Para dirigir el silenciamiento génico post-transcripcional, la maquinaria de RNAi explota la formación de pares de bases entre la hebra guía cargado y el ARNm complementario. La proteína Ago2 (Argonauta 2) es la "máquina de cortar" del complejo RISC y dirige la rotura endonucleolítica sólo cuando la hebra guía del siRNA está completamente apareada con su homóloga de ARN. Ago2 es capaz de incorporar una molécula de dúplex de siRNA, desenrolla la doble hélice y mantiene una hebra mientras se descarta la otra cadena. Ago2 cargada con la hebra guía se define "activa" y puede guiar múltiples reacciones de escisión contra los ARNm complementarios. El análisis estructural del proceso de ensamblaje de Ago2 ha llevado a la conclusión de que las primeras interacciones entre el siRNA y la proteina Ago2 se basa en el reconocimiento específico por el dominio PAZ. Por lo tanto, el correcto reconocimiento de dominio PAZ contribuye a la incorporación específica y productiva de los siRNAs en el Ago2. La hebra guía con su extremo 3' protuberante que tiene 2-nt está implicada en la mayoría de los contactos entre la cavidad presente en el dominio PAZ. En principio, las modificaciones en los extremos protuberantes se introdujeron para proteger la integridad del dúplex de ARN. Sólo después de la comprensión de la arquitectura de Ago2, se pensó en la utilización de las modificaciones en los extremos protuberantes para mejorar la potencia y especificidad de los siRNAs. Para explorar las características estructurales críticas para la interacción entre la cavidad PAZ, modificamos los extremos protuberantes de los siRNA con varias modificaciones. Específicamente, 2 unidades de un beta-L-nucleósido como la L-timidina (imagen especular de la timidina), de 2'-desoxiribitol, de GNA (glycerol nucleic acids)- timina y del derivado acíclico L-treoninol se introdujeron a los extremos protuberantes y se midió la potencia de silenciamiento (IC50). Tales modificaciones pueden proporcionar pistas fundamentales sobre el requisito estructural necesario para el reconocimiento y carga de la cadena del dominio PAZ de Ago2.[eng] To direct post-transcriptionally gene silencing, RNAi machinery exploits the formation of base pairs between the loaded guide strand and the complementary mRNA. The Ago2 protein is the “slicer” effector of the RISC and drives the endonucleolytic cleavage only when the siRNA guide strand is full paired with its RNA counterpart. Ago2 is able to incorporate a duplex siRNA molecule, unwinds the double helix and holds one strand while discarding the other. Ago2 bearing only the guide strand is defined “active” and can guide multiple cleavage reactions against the complementary mRNAs. Structural insights into Ago2 assembly process have speculated that early interactions between the siRNA and the Ago2 relies on specific recognition by the PAZ domain. Thus, proper PAZ domain recognition contributes to the specific and productive incorporation of siRNAs into the Ago2. Interactions between PAZ domain and siRNA molecule are essentially asymmetric. The guide strand with its 2-nt 3’overhang is involved in the majority of the contacts between the PAZ pocket and the siRNA, whereas the passenger strand interacts only with its 5’ end residue. In principle, overhang modifications (i.e. 2’-deoxy units) were just introduced to protect the RNA duplex integrity. Only after the understanding of the Ago2 architecture, overhang modifications were also harnessed to improve the siRNA potency and specificity. The comprehension of the PAZ lodging/dislodging motion during the formation of binary (Ago2 + guide) and ternary complex (Ago2 + guide + mRNA) pointed out the importance of adequate affinity between the guide overhang and the PAZ cleft during the Ago2 multi-turnover cleavage process. Affinity analysis on PAZ/siRNA overhang complex has proved the influence of the overhang presence for efficient binding. SiRNA duplexes with shorter overhang (1-nt) or blunt end have respectively highlighted 85-fold and >5000-fold reduced affinity. Hence, taking advantage of more efficient interactions between the PAZ pocket and the strand bearing the unpaired di-nucleotides structure, structural asymmetric siRNA molecules bearing only the antisense overhang were successful employed to bias the RISC strand selection. Moreover, competition between siRNAs, resulting in preferential incorporation of one siRNA type into the RISC machinery, is influenced by the distinct loading kinetics of siRNA molecules. Thus, the knockdown ability of siRNA mixtures is often compromised due to competition between siRNAs. It also has been reported that the simultaneous transfection of two or more siRNAs causes reduced silencing activity of one siRNA species whereas the potency of the other siRNAs were not affected. Even if siRNA competition effects are essentially produced by the interactions with the Ago2 protein, up to now, no available data about a specific Ago2 domain involvement into the siRNA competition have been described. We have been hypothesized that the PAZ domain, playing an important role in the first steps of the strand loading could be specifically involved in the siRNA competition. Given this background we are questioning how the di-nucleotide unpaired structure can influence the siRNA silencing efficiency and specificity. To explore the structural hallmarks critical for the PAZ pocket interaction, we modified the siRNA overhangs with several modifications. In detail, 2 units of β-L-nucleosides (mirror image L-Thymidine), 2’-deoxyribitol, GNA (glycerol nucleic acids)-Thymine and acyclic L-threoninol were introduced at overhang level and the silencing potency (IC50) was measured. Such modifications may provide fundamental clues on structural prerequisite needed for the PAZ recognition and strand loading into the Ago2

RNA modified with acyclic threoninol nucleic acids for RNA interference: DOI: 10.14800/rd.907

Upon the discovery of the RNA interference pathway, the development of nucleic acids derivatives for therapeutic purposes has soon caught the attention of biomedical researchers. Although synthetic small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been extensively used to downregulate any protein-coding mRNA, several key issues still remain unsolved. The acyclic threoninol nucleic acid (aTNA), placed at certain siRNA positions, is a useful modification to reduce the oligonucleotides vulnerability towards nucleases. In addition, it can be exploited to avoid several OFF-target effects that limit the biological safety of the RNAi-based agents

Modulation of the RNA Interference Activity Using Central Mismatched siRNAs and Acyclic Threoninol Nucleic Acids (aTNA) Units

The understanding of the mechanisms behind nucleotide recognition by Argonaute 2, core protein of the RNA-induced silencing complex, is a key aspect in the optimization of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) activity. To date, great efforts have been focused on the modification of certain regions of siRNA, such as the 3'/5'-termini and the seed region. Only a few reports have described the roles of central positions flanking the cleavage site during the silence process. In this study, we investigate the potential correlations between the thermodynamic and silencing properties of siRNA molecules carrying, at internal positions, an acyclic L-threoninol nucleic acid (aTNA) modification. Depending on position, the silencing is weakened or impaired. Furthermore, we evaluate the contribution of mismatches facing either a natural nucleotide or an aTNA modification to the siRNA potency. The position 11 of the antisense strand is more permissive to mismatches and aTNA modification, in respect to the position 10. Additionally, comparing the ON-/OFF-target silencing of central mismatched siRNAs with 5'-terminal modified siRNA, we concluded: (i) central perturbation of duplex pairing features weights more on potency rather than silencing asymmetry; (ii) complete bias for the ON-target silencing can be achieved with single L-threoninol modification near the 5'-end of the sense strand

Proximity ligation assay for detection of R-Loop complexes upon DNA damage

In situ Proximity Ligation Assay (PLA ) can be used to detect the close proximity (less than ~40 nm) of two biological molecules of interest in cells. Here we report the application of this method for the specific detection of R-loop interacting proteins and RNA modifications in close proximity to R-loops in non-damage and ionizing radiation (IR) induced DNA damage conditions