Structure-Guided Control of siRNA Off-Target Effects

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• 作者：Scott R. Suter ; Jessica Sheu-Gruttadauria ; Nicole T. Schirle ; Rachel Valenzuela ; Alexi A. Ball-Jones ; Kazumitsu Onizuka ; Ian J. MacRae ; Peter A. Beal
• 刊名：Journal of the American Chemical Society
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：July 20, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：138
• 期：28
• 页码：8667-8669
• 全文大小：257K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1520-5126

文摘

Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are promising therapeutics that make use of the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, but liabilities arising from the native RNA structure necessitate chemical modification for drug development. Advances in the structural characterization of components of the human RNAi pathway have enabled structure-guided optimization of siRNA properties. Here we report the 2.3 Å resolution crystal structure of human Argonaute 2 (hAgo2), a key nuclease in the RNAi pathway, bound to an siRNA guide strand bearing an unnatural triazolyl nucleotide at position 1 (g1). Unlike natural nucleotides, this analogue inserts deeply into hAgo2’s central RNA binding cleft and thus is able to modulate pairing between guide and target RNAs. The affinity of the hAgo2–siRNA complex for a seed-only matched target was significantly reduced by the triazolyl modification, while the affinity for a fully matched target was unchanged. In addition, siRNA potency for off-target repression was reduced (4-fold increase in IC₅₀) by the modification, while on-target knockdown was improved (2-fold reduction in IC₅₀). Controlling siRNA on-target versus microRNA (miRNA)-like off-target potency by projection of substituent groups into the hAgo2 central cleft from g1 is a new approach to enhance siRNA selectivity with a strong structural rationale.