Phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides induce the formation of nuclear bodies

Lorenz, P., Baker, B. F., Bennett, C. F., Spector, D. L. (1998) Phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides induce the formation of nuclear bodies. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 9 (5). pp. 1007-1023. ISSN 1059-1524

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Abstract

Antisense oligonucleotides are powerful tools for the in vivo regulation of gene expression. We have characterized the intracellular distribution of fluorescently tagged phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides (PS-ONs) at high resolution under conditions in which PS-ONs have the potential to display antisense activity. Under these conditions PS-ONs predominantly localized to the cell nucleus where they accumulated in 20-30 bright spherical foci designated phosphorothioate bodies (PS bodies), which were set against a diffuse nucleoplasmic population excluding nucleoli. PS bodies are nuclear structures that formed in cells after PS-ON delivery by transfection agents or microinjection but were observed irrespectively of antisense activity or sequence. Ultrastructurally, PS bodies corresponded to electron-dense structures of 150-300 nm diameter and resembled nuclear bodies that were found with lower frequency in cells lacking PS-ONs. The environment of a living cell was required for the de novo formation of PS bodies, which occurred within minutes after the introduction of PS-ONs. PS bodies were stable entities that underwent noticeable reorganization only during mitosis. Upon exit from mitosis, PS bodies were assembled de novo from diffuse PS-ON pools in the daughter nuclei. In situ fractionation demonstrated an association of PS-ONs with the nuclear matrix. Taken together, our data provide evidence for the formation of a nuclear body in cells after introduction of phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Antigens Cell Nucleus HeLa Cells Humans Intracellular Fluid Nuclear Matrix Oligonucleotides, Antisense Thionucleotides
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > DNA expression
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > oligonucleotide
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Spector lab
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 1998
Date Deposited: 10 Dec 2012 19:56
Last Modified: 29 Jan 2015 17:23
PMCID: PMC25326
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/26341

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