Cellular Antisense Activity of PNA-Oligo(bicycloguanidinium) Conjugates forming Self-Assembled Nano-aggregates

Julian Valero, Takehiko Shiraishi, Javier de Mendoza, Peter Eigil Nielsen

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A series of peptide nucleic acid-oligo(bicycloguanidinium) (PNA-BGn) conjugates were synthesized and characterized in terms of cellular antisense activity by using the pLuc750HeLa cell splice correction assay. PNA-BG4 conjugates exhibited low micromolar antisense activity, and their cellular activity required the presence of a hydrophobic silyl terminal protecting group on the oligo(BG) ligand and a minimum of four guanidinium units. Surprisingly, a nonlinear dose-response with an activity threshold around 3-4 μM, indicative of large cooperativity, was observed. Supported by light scattering and electron microscopy analyses, we propose that the activity, and thus cellular delivery, of these lipo-PNA-BG4 conjugates is dependent on self-assembled nanoaggregates. Finally, cellular activity was enhanced by the presence of serum. Therefore we conclude that the lipo-BG-PNA conjugates exhibit an unexpected mechanism for cell delivery and are of interest for further in vivo studies.

Original languageEnglish
JournalChemBioChem
Volume16
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)1593-1600
Number of pages8
ISSN1439-4227
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2015

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