Antisense Nucleic Acids in Biotechnology

Nicholas Delihas, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0000984

Antisense nucleic acids are natural or synthetic polymers that base pair with target RNAs and inhibit target functions. Natural antisense RNAs are found in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and regulate gene expression during cell growth or development. Synthetic and vector-encoded antisense nucleic acids are used in experimental molecular genetics to determine the function of target genes, and are being developed for use in human disease management and in agriculture.

Keywords: antisense polynucleotides; antisense drugs; biotechnology; control of gene expression

Figure 1. Binding of an antisense molecule to a target messenger RNA (mRNA) inhibits translation into protein. (a) Normal protein synthesis. (b) Protein synthesis inhibited by base pairing of the antisense molecule to the mRNA.
Figure 2. Classes of antisense oligonucleotides. Base represents adenine, guanine, cytosine or thymine for oligodeoxynucleotides and uracil instead of thymine for the 2¢-O-methyl oligoribonucleotide derivative. Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) have adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine or uracil as the base.
Figure 3. Nucleic acid enzymes showing target RNA cleavage sites. (a) Schematic of hammerhead ribozyme showing binding to target RNA via Watson–Crick base pairing. Dots represent A, G, C or U. X represents A, C or U. (b) DNA enzyme binding to target RNA via Watson–Crick base pairing. Dots represent A, G, C and T for DNA enzyme and A, G, C and U for target RNA.
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 Further Reading
    Agrawal S and Kandimalla ER (2000) Antisense therapeutics: is it as simple as complementary base recognition? Molecular Medicine Today 6: 72–81.
    Branch AD (1998) A good antisense molecule is hard to find. Trends in Biochemical Sciences 23: 45–50.
    Crooke ST (2000) Progress in antisense technology: the end of the beginning. Methods in Enzymology 313: 3–45.
    Finkel E (1999) DNA cuts its teeth-as an enzyme. Science 286: 2441–2442.
    Hogrefe RI (1999) An antisense oligonucleotide primer. Antisense Nucleic Acid Drug Development 9: 351–357.
    Kuss B and Cotter F (1999) Antisense – time to shoot messenger. Annals of Oncology 10: 495–502.
    book Stein CA and Krieg AM (eds) (1998) Applied Antisense Oligonuceotide Technology. New York: Wiley-Liss.
    Szklarczyk AW and Kaczmarek L (1999) Brain as a unique antisense environment. Antisense Nucleic Acid Drug Development 9: 105–116.

Related Sub-Topics:

Nucleic Acid Structure | Translation and Protein synthesis | Translational Regulation | RNA Structure and Function | Techniques and Tools in Molecular Biology | Noncoding RNA | Biomolecular Interactions | Information Flow | Nucleic Acids: Structure, Function, Metabolism
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Article Title: Antisense Nucleic Acids in Biotechnology
 
How to Cite close
Delihas, Nicholas(Apr 2001) Antisense Nucleic Acids in Biotechnology. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0000984]