SELEX--a (r)evolutionary method to generate high-affinity nucleic acid ligands

SELEX stands for systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment. This method, described primarily in 1990 [Ellington, A.D., Szostak, J.W., 1990. In vitro selection of RNA molecules that bind specific ligands. Nature 346, 818-822; Tuerk, C., Gold, L., 1990. Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment: RNA ligands to bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase. Science 249, 505-510] aims at the development of aptamers, which are oligonucleotides (RNA or ssDNA) binding to their target with high selectivity and sensitivity because of their three-dimensional shape. Aptamers are all new ligands with a high affinity for considerably differing molecules ranging from large targets as proteins over peptides, complex molecules to drugs and organic small molecules or even metal ions. Aptamers are widely used, including medical and pharmaceutical basic research, drug development, diagnosis, and therapy. Analytical and separation tools bearing aptamers as molecular recognition and binding elements are another big field of application. Moreover, aptamers are used for the investigation of binding phenomena in proteomics. The SELEX method was modified over the years in different ways to become more efficient and less time consuming, to reach higher affinities of the aptamers selected and for automation of the process. This review is focused on the development of aptamers by use of SELEX and gives an overview about technologies, advantages, limitations, and applications of aptamers.     

Targeting degradation of RNA by RNase H using DNA hairpins

RNase H degradation of two 15 nt RNA target sites was examined in the presence of hairpin DNAs with a 5 nt loop and a 10 bp stem or single-stranded 15 nt DNAs. One target site was a segment of a 79 nt RNA, and the other was part of a 53 nt RNA. Secondary structure predictions indicate that the 53 nt RNA target site is entirely single stranded, while a portion of the 79 nt RNA target site forms an intramolecular duplex. Less RNase H and DNA were needed to cleave the 53 nt RNA target site than the less accessible 79 nt RNA site. The hairpin DNAs had their 5 nt loop and 3' side of the stem fully complementary to the target sites or had sequence changes that produced one to nine mismatched pairs. T(m) values ranged from 57 to 80 degrees C. The stability of the hairpin DNAs relative to the stability of their corresponding RNA-DNA hybrids influenced the extent of RNase H degradation at 37 degrees C. Under the assay conditions employed, the amount of degradation directed by the hairpin DNAs was correlated with their predicted DeltaG(o) (37) of binding to the RNA targets. A DNA hairpin with one mismatch to the target site of the 79 nt RNA did not induce degradation under conditions where fully complementary DNA hairpins produced 50-80% degradation. The in vitro results indicate that DNA hairpins can enhance the stringency of RNase H targeted degradation of the RNA sites.     

Rational ligand design for RNA: the role of static structure and conformational flexibility in target recognition

The role of static structure and conformational flexibility in the recognition of RNA targets by small molecule ligands is discussed with emphasis on the natural aminoglycoside antibiotics and their promiscuity in RNA target binding. A brief overview is given of previous efforts to design simplified aminoglycoside derivatives targeted at the bacterial decoding site RNA.     

RNA at DNA Double-Strand Breaks: The Challenge of Dealing with DNA:RNA Hybrids

RNA polymerase II is recruited to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), transcribes the sequences that flank the break and produces a novel RNA type that has been termed damage-induced long non-coding RNA (dilncRNA). DilncRNAs can be processed into short, miRNA-like molecules or degraded by different ribonucleases. They can also form double-stranded RNAs or DNA:RNA hybrids. The DNA:RNA hybrids formed at DSBs contribute to the recruitment of repair factors during the early steps of homologous recombination (HR) and, in this way, contribute to the accuracy of the DNA repair. However, if not resolved, the DNA:RNA hybrids are highly mutagenic and prevent the recruitment of later HR factors. Here recent discoveries about the synthesis, processing, and degradation of dilncRNAs are revised. The focus is on RNA clearance, a necessary step for the successful repair of DSBs and the aim is to reconcile contradictory findings on the effects of dilncRNAs and DNA:RNA hybrids in HR.     

Combinatorial selection of RNA ligands for complex cellular targets : the RNA liagands-based proteomics

This study explores the selection of high affinity RNA ligands for the complex cellular targets present in crude HeLa nuclear extract through directed evolution and deconvolution. RNA ligands for the mixed nuclear targets were selected from around 6 x 10(14) RNA sequences through an iterated enrichment process. RNA ligands for various gene products of the extract were simultaneously selected and were shown to specifically interact with their target molecules. The target molecules were isolated from the nuclear extract by affinity chromatography using columns tagged with the RNA ligands, resolved on two-dimensional gels, and identified by mass spectrometry. These RNA ligands may be useful in characterizing novel functions of cellular proteins and modulating complex molecular events.     

核酸适配体在肿瘤免疫治疗中的应用

核酸适配体是指通过指数富集的配体系统进化技术(systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment, SELEX)技术得到的一种可以高特异性、高亲和性识别靶标物质的单链DNA或RNA,可以作为靶向性治疗的分子探针。指数富集的配体系统进化技术即SELEX技术是在体外合成一个随机序列的文库,通过4个步骤孵育、分离、回收、扩增即可获得相对应的核酸适配体。通过几十年的发展,如今SELEX技术已成为一种重要的研究手段。核酸适配体具有稳定性强、分子量小、易进行化学合成和修饰、能特异性结合包括从小分子到细胞等靶标,识别范围广等优点,被广泛应用在肿瘤领域。免疫治疗与传统的肿瘤治疗方式不同,它是增强机体自身免疫系统来达到清除体内肿瘤细胞的一种方式,已被临床证明是治疗多种癌症的有效方法,例如针对免疫检查点CTLA4和PD-L1/PD-1的抗体,临床试验取得了成功,这为肿瘤的治疗带来了新的思路方法。目前,相关的免疫治疗药物已经上市应用于临床治疗,但是通过免疫治疗获益的肿瘤患者相对较少且会产生严重的副作用。核酸适配体与免疫相结合,为肿瘤的治疗提供了...     

In vitro selection of high-affinity nucleic acid ligands to parasite target molecules

The logic of using nucleic acids as pharmaceutical reagents is in part based on their capacity to interact with high affinity and specificity with other biological components. Considerable progress has been made over the past 10 years in the development of nucleic acid-based drug molecules using a variety of different technologies. One approach is a combinatorial technology that involves an iterative Darwinian-type in vitro evolution process, which has been termed SELEX for 'systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment'. The procedure is a highly efficient method of identifying rare ligands from combinatorial nucleic acid libraries of very high complexity. It allows the selection of nucleic acid molecules with desired functions and it has been instrumental in the identification of a number of synthetic DNA and RNA molecules, so-called aptamers that recognise ligands of different chemical origin. The method is fast, it does not require special equipment and the selected aptamers typically bind their target with high affinity and high specificity. Here we summarise the recent examples of the SELEX technique within the context of identifying high-affinity ligands against parasite target molecules.     

Antisense recognition of the HER-2 mRNA: effects of phosphorothioate substitution and polyamines on DNA.RNA, RNA.RNA, and DNA.DNA duplex stability

The HER-2 gene is overexpressed in a subset of breast, ovarian, lung, and pancreatic cancers. Antisense oligonucleotides suppress gene expression depending on the stability of the DNA.RNA hybrids formed at the target site. Polyamines, the cellular cations that interact with DNA and RNA, may influence hybrid stability in the cell. Therefore, we studied the ability of natural polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) and a series of their structural analogues to stabilize DNA.RNA and RNA.RNA duplexes using melting temperature (T(m)) measurements and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Phosphodiester (PO) and phosphorothioate (PS) oligonucleotides (ODNs) (15 nucleotides, 5'-CTCCATGGTGCTCAC-3') targeted to the initiation codon region of the HER-2 mRNA, and complementary RNA and DNA ODNs, were used in this study. The relative order of thermal stability was as follows: RNA.RNA > PO-DNA.RNA > PO-DNA.PO-DNA > PS-DNA.RNA > PS-DNA.PO-DNA > PS-DNA.PS-DNA. The ability of polyamines to stabilize the duplexes improved with the cationicity of the polyamine, with hexamines being more effective than pentamines, which in turn were more effective than tetramines and triamines. However, chemical structural effects were clearly evident with isovalent homologues of spermidine and spermine. CD spectra showed B and A conformations, respectively, for the DNA and RNA helices. DNA.RNA hybrids adopted an intermediate structure between the B and A forms. These data help us to understand the role of endogenous polyamines in DNA.RNA hybrid stabilization, and provide information for designing novel polyamines to facilitate the use of antisense ODNs for controlling HER-2 gene expression.     

CRISPR immunity relies on the consecutive binding and degradation of negatively supercoiled invader DNA by Cascade and Cas3

The prokaryotic CRISPR/Cas immune system is based on genomic loci that contain incorporated sequence tags from viruses and plasmids. Using small guide RNA molecules, these sequences act as a memory to reject returning invaders. Both the Cascade ribonucleoprotein complex and the Cas3 nuclease/helicase are required for CRISPR interference in Escherichia coli, but it is unknown how natural target DNA molecules are recognized and neutralized by their combined action. Here we show that Cascade efficiently locates target sequences in negatively supercoiled DNA, but only if these are flanked by a protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM). PAM recognition by Cascade exclusively involves the crRNA-complementary DNA strand. After Cascade-mediated R loop formation, the Cse1 subunit recruits Cas3, which catalyzes nicking of target DNA through its HD-nuclease domain. The target is?then progressively unwound and cleaved by the joint ATP-dependent helicase activity and Mg(2+)-dependent HD-nuclease activity of Cas3, leading to complete target DNA degradation and invader neutralization.     

Detection of sickle-cell mutation by electrophoresis of partial RNA:DNA hybrids following solution hybridization

We have developed a method in which partially single-stranded (ss) DNA molecules containing a defined region of duplex RNA:DNA are electrophoretically separated in agarose gels. The partial hybrids are formed by solution hybridization with a uniform length RNA probe complementary to part of the DNA sequence of interest. Following hybridization, the RNA/DNA mixture is fractionated by agarose gel electrophoresis at high temperature to minimize intrastrand base pairing which causes mobility heterogeneity. Not requiring the steps of DNA transfer from the gel to a solid support and subsequent probing, pre-electrophoretic hybridization allows the direct identification of single-copy fragments. Conditions for the detection of single-copy genes in human DNA digested with specific restriction endonucleases were developed and applied to the diagnosis of sickle-cell disease. This method should be applicable for the analysis of DNAs of high complexity where the presence of DNA polymorphisms and interspersed repeated DNA sequences often make impossible the creation of complete RNA:DNA hybrids.     

Evidence for a partial RNA transcript of the small circular component of kinetoplast DNA of Crithidia acanthocephali.

The major component of kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) in the protozoan Crithidia acanthocephali is an association of approximately 27,000, 0.8 micrometers (1.58 x 10(6) dalton) circular molecules apparently held together in a particular structural configuration by topological interlocking. We have carried out hybridization experiments between kDNA samples containing one or the other of the two complementary (H and L) strands of purified 0.8 micrometers molecules derived from mechanically disrupted associations and RNA samples prepared either from whole C. acanthocephali cells or from a mitochondrion-enriched fraction. The results of experiments involving cesium sulfate buoyant density centrifugation indicate that whole cell RNA contains a component(s) complementary to all kDNA H strands, but none complementary to kDNA L strands. Similar results were obtained using mitochondrion-associated RNA. Digestion of RNA/DNA hybrids and suitable controls with the single-strand-specific nuclease S1 indicated that 10% of the kDNA H strand is involved in hybrid formation. Visualization of RNA/DNA hybrids stained with bacteriophage T4 gene 32 protein revealed that hybridation involves a single region of each kDNA H strand, equal to approximately 10% of the molecule length. These data suggest that at least 10% of the small circular component of kDNA of Crithidia acanthocephali is transcribed.     

Structure and specificity of the RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9 during DNA interrogation,target binding and cleavage

CRISPR-associated endonuclease Cas9 cuts DNA at variable target sites designated by a Cas9-bound RNA molecule. Cas9''s ability to be directed by single ‘guide RNA’ molecules to target nearly any sequence has been recently exploited for a number of emerging biological and medical applications. Therefore, understanding the nature of Cas9''s off-target activity is of paramount importance for its practical use. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we directly resolve individual Cas9 and nuclease-inactive dCas9 proteins as they bind along engineered DNA substrates. High-resolution imaging allows us to determine their relative propensities to bind with different guide RNA variants to targeted or off-target sequences. Mapping the structural properties of Cas9 and dCas9 to their respective binding sites reveals a progressive conformational transformation at DNA sites with increasing sequence similarity to its target. With kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations, these results provide evidence of a ‘conformational gating’ mechanism driven by the interactions between the guide RNA and the 14th–17th nucleotide region of the targeted DNA, the stabilities of which we find correlate significantly with reported off-target cleavage rates. KMC simulations also reveal potential methodologies to engineer guide RNA sequences with improved specificity by considering the invasion of guide RNAs into targeted DNA duplex.     

利用糖芯片技术检测氨基糖苷类抗生素与RNAs和蛋白质之间的相互作用

氨基糖苷类抗生素是一类广谱型抗细菌感染药物,其不断增加的细菌耐药性很大程度上限制了它的临床应用,研究和开发新型氨基糖苷类抗生素具有重要意义。将氨基糖苷类抗生素固定到玻璃片基上,制成糖芯片,再分别与荧光标记的RNAs和蛋白质杂交,通过分析杂交后的荧光信号强度检测它们之间的相互作用。结果显示,氨基糖苷类抗生素芯片可以特异性地与r RNA的A位点模拟物、I型核酶和蛋白酶结合。因此糖芯片技术不仅可以检测氨基糖苷类抗生素与r RNAs的特异性结合,而且可以应用于寻找新型RNA结合配体的研究,为快速鉴定和筛选可紧密结合RNA靶标且毒性较低的新型氨基糖苷类抗生素奠定了一定的基础。     

RecA-mediated strand invasion of DNA by oligonucleotides substituted with 2-aminoadenine and 2-thiothymine

Sequence-specific recognition of DNA is a critical step in gene targeting. Here we describe unique oligonucleotide (ON) hybrids that can stably pair to both strands of a linear DNA target in a RecA-dependent reaction with ATP or ATPγS. One strand of the hybrids is a 30-mer DNA ON that contains a 15-nt-long A/T-rich central core. The core sequence, which is substituted with 2-aminoadenine and 2-thiothymine, is weakly hybridized to complementary locked nucleic acid or 2′-OMe RNA ONs that are also substituted with the same base analogs. Robust targeting reactions took place in the presence of ATPγS and generated metastable double D-loop joints. Since the hybrids had pseudocomplementary character, the component ONs hybridized less strongly to each other than to complementary target DNA sequences composed of regular bases. This difference in pairing strength promoted the formation of joints capable of accommodating a single mismatch. If similar joints can form in vivo, virtually any A/T-rich site in genomic DNA could be selectively targeted. By designing the constructs so that the DNA ON is mismatched to its complementary sequence in DNA, joint formation might allow the ON to function as a template for targeted point mutation and gene correction.