Ribozyme-Spherical Nucleic Acids

Jessica L. Rouge, Timothy L. Sita, Liangliang Hao, Fotini M. Kouri, William E. Briley, Alexander H. Stegh, Chad A. Mirkin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ribozymes are highly structured RNA sequences that can be tailored to recognize and cleave specific stretches of mRNA. Their current therapeutic efficacy remains low due to their large size and structural instability compared to shorter therapeutically relevant RNA such as small interfering RNA (siRNA) and microRNA (miRNA). Herein, a synthetic strategy that makes use of the spherical nucleic acid (SNA) architecture to stabilize ribozymes and transfect them into live cells is reported. The properties of this novel ribozyme-SNA are characterized in the context of the targeted knockdown of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair protein involved in chemotherapeutic resistance of solid tumors, foremost glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Data showing the direct cleavage of full-length MGMT mRNA, knockdown of MGMT protein, and increased sensitization of GBM cells to therapy-mediated apoptosis, independent of transfection agents, provide compelling evidence for the promising properties of this new chemical architecture.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10528-10531
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume137
Issue number33
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 14 2015

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ribozyme-Spherical Nucleic Acids'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this