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Modified Oligonucleotides Containing Lithocholic Acid in Their Backbones: Their Enhanced Cellular Uptake and Their Mimicking of Hairpin Structures
Author(s) -
Kim Su Jeong,
Bang EunKyoung,
Kwon Ho Jeong,
Shim Joong Sup,
Kim Byeang Hyean
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.200400150
Subject(s) - lithocholic acid , circular dichroism , biophysics , chemistry , confocal microscopy , hela , fluorescence microscope , dna , pregnane x receptor , fluorescence , oligonucleotide , biochemistry , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , bile acid , biology , nuclear receptor , transcription factor , physics , quantum mechanics , gene
Abstract Their enhanced cell permeability and their ability to mimic DNA structures make modified oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) very important substances for increasing our understanding of cell biology and for therapeutic applications. Lithocholic acid is a hydrophobic secondary bile acid that is a substrate of nuclear Pregnane X receptor (PXR). We designed and synthesized novel lithocholic acid‐based ODNs (L‐ODNs) by using a new phosphoramidite derived from lithocholic acid. By comparing data obtained from circular‐dichroism, melting‐point, and theoretical studies, we believe that these L‐ODNs adopt DNA hairpin structures. Furthermore, L‐ODNs have enhanced cellular uptake properties with respect to regular ODNs. To demonstrate their enhanced cell permeabilities, we carried out cellular uptake experiments of L‐ODNs in HeLa cells. By attaching fluorescein as a fluorescence label and using confocal microscopy, we observed that the permeability of L‐ODNs is much higher than that of natural ODNs.