Antagomir
Antagomirs are one of a novel class of chemically engineered oligonucleotides. Antagomirs are used to silence endogenous microRNA.[1][2]
An antagomir is a small synthetic RNA that is perfectly complementary to the specific miRNA target with either mispairing at the cleavage site of Ago2 or some sort of base modification to inhibit Ago2 cleavage. Usually, antagomirs have some sort of modification, such as 2' methoxi groups and phosphothioates, to make it more resistant to degradation. It is unclear how antagomirization (the process by which an antagomir inhibits miRNA activity) operates, but it is believed to inhibit by irreversibly binding the miRNA. Antagomirs are now used as a method to constitutively inhibit the activity of specific miRNAs. For example, antagomirs against miR-21 have been successfully used to inhibit fibrosis of heart and lung.
[edit] References
- ^ Krützfeldt J, Rajewsky N, Braich R, Rajeev KG, Tuschl T, Manoharan M, Stoffel M., Jan; Rajewsky, N; Braich, R; Rajeev, KG; Tuschl, T; Manoharan, M; Stoffel, M (December 2005). "Silencing of microRNAs in vivo with 'antagomirs'". Nature 438 (7068): 685–9. doi:10.1038/nature04303. PMID 16258535.
- ^ Czech Michael P (2006). "MicroRNAs as Therapeutic Targets". New England Journal of Medicine 354 (11): 1194–5. doi:10.1056/NEJMcibr060065. PMID 16540623.
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