2′-O-Hydroxyalkoxymethylribonucleosides and their Incorporation into Oligoribonucleotides

Abstract

A simple and efficient method for the preparation of pyrimidine 2 ′-O-hydroxyethoxymethylribonucleosides and 2 ′-O-hydroxypropoxymethylribonucleosides has been developed. These modified nucleosides were incorporated into oligoribonucleotides, which were shown to form stable RNA/RNA duplexes. The effect of 2 ′ -O-modification in the antisense and sense strands of small interference RNA was evaluated in multi-drug resistant NIH 3T3 cells.

Keywords:

• Oligoribonucleotides
• ONs
• RNA/RNA duplexes

Financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Programme “Molecular and Cellar Biology,” INTAS and KUL Research Council is acknowledged.