Synthesis of 2'-formamidonucleoside phosphoramidites for suppressing the seed-based off-target effects of siRNAs.
Nomura, K., An, S., Kobayashi, Y., Kondo, J., Shi, T., Murase, H., Nakamoto, K., Kimura, Y., Abe, N., Ui-Tei, K., Abe, H.(2024) Nucleic Acids Res 52: 10754-10774
- PubMed: 39231537 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae741
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
8YNO, 8YNP - PubMed Abstract: 
In this study, we report the synthesis of 2'-formamidonucleoside phosphoramidite derivatives and their incorporation into siRNA strands to reduce seed-based off-target effects of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Formamido derivatives of all four nucleosides (A, G, C and U) were synthesized in 5-11 steps from commercial compounds. Introducing these derivatives into double-stranded RNA slightly reduced its thermodynamic stability, but X-ray crystallography and CD spectrum analysis confirmed that the RNA maintained its natural A-form structure. Although the introduction of the 2'-formamidonucleoside derivative at the 2nd position in the guide strand of the siRNA led to a slight decrease in the on-target RNAi activity, the siRNAs with different sequences incorporating 2'-formamidonucleoside with four kinds of nucleobases into any position other than 2nd position in the seed region revealed a significant suppression of off-target activity while maintaining on-target RNAi activity. This indicates that 2'-formamidonucleosides represent a promising approach for mitigating off-target effects in siRNA therapeutics.
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan.
Organizational Affiliation: 
















