Activation of "caged" oligonucleotides by red light

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andriy Mokhir
• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: from 2007 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 50991986

Light-induced gene knockdown is a powerful approach for determination and control of gene functions. In this method oligonucleotides are used, whose binding to nucleic acids is triggered by light (“caged” oligonucleotides). The full potential of light-induced gene knockdown is not yet fully realized, because only UV-light sensitive “caged” reagents are available. UV-light is highly mutagenic and toxic. These side effects mask specific biological activity of “caged” oligonucleotides. Providing photoinitiation of gene knockdown could be done using non-toxic red light, the method would find much broader applications in molecular biology and medicine. In particular, triggering gene-knockdown could be performed in deep regions of tissues, since red light is weakly absorbed by cellular components. In contrast, UV-light is strongly absorbed by e.g. abundant proteins and nucleic acids in cells, therefore it may affect only surface regions of tissues. The aim of this project is to obtain “caged” reagents (DNAs and RNAs), whose biological activity (antisense or RNAi) can be triggered by exposure to red light.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants