ANALYSIS OF A RIBONUCLEASE-H DIGESTION OF N3'-]P5' PHOSPHORAMIDATE RNA DUPLEXES BY CAPILLARY GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS

Phosphodiester oligonucleotides (ODNs) and their analogs are presently being investigated as potential antisense therapeutics in the treatment of viral infections and various forms of cancer. Here, we would like to report results from an investigation of activity for a ribonuclease H (RNase Hi) mediated RNA digestion assay in the duplexes formed by an ODN or the ODN analog, N3'-->P5' phosphoramidate (3'-phosphoramidate), and complimentary RNA strands. Capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) proved to be an effective method for determining RNA hydrolysis in the presence of RNase H. RNA and an ODN or RNA and a 3'-phosphoramidate were hybridized in a Tris-HCl, MgCl2 buffer at room temperature (RT) and incubated with RNase H. Digestions were carried out at RT or at 37 degrees C. Control samples were unhybridized RNA with RNase H, RNA without RNase H, and duplexes (RNA-ODN or 3'-phosphoramidate) without RNase H. All controls were incubated in Tris-HCl, MgCl2 buffer, and sample aliquots were analyzed at various time intervals. A homodecamer, (dT)(10), was used as an internal standard to determine the relative migration time of the RNA strand. The final digestion products for the duplexes and the various controls were monitored by CGE. In addition, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was used in conjunction with Stains-All (staining) and a densitometric analysis to verify CGE results.