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Recent studies in colorectal cancer patients (CRC) have shown that increased resistance to thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), reduce the efficacy of standard of care (SoC) treatment regimens. The nucleotide pool cleanser dUTPase is highly expressed in CRC and is an attractive target for potentiating anticancer activity of chemotherapy. The purpose of the current work was to investigate the activity of P 1 , P 4 -di(2',5'-dideoxy-5'-selenouridinyl)-tetraphosphate (P 4 -SedU 2 ), a selenium-modified symmetrically capped dinucleoside with prodrug capabilities that is specifically activated by dUTPase. Using mechanochemistry, P 4 -SedU 2 and the corresponding selenothymidine analogue P 4 -SeT 2 were prepared with a yield of 19% and 30% respectively. The phosphate functionality facilitated complexation with the amphipathic cell-penetrating peptide RALA to produce nanoparticles (NPs). These NPs were designed to deliver P 4 -SedU 2 intracellularly and thereby maximise in vivo activity. The NPs demonstrated effective anti-cancer activity and selectivity in the HCT116 CRC cell line, a cell line that overexpresses dUTPase; compared to HT29 CRC cells and NCTC-929 fibroblast cells which have reduced levels of dUTPase expression. In vivo studies in BALB/c SCID mice revealed no significant toxicity with respect to weight or organ histology. Pharmacokinetic analysis of blood serum showed that RALA facilitates effective delivery and rapid internalisation into surrounding tissues with NPs eliciting lower plasma C max than the equivalent injection of free P 4 -SedU 2 , translating the in vitro findings. Tumour growth delay studies have demonstrated significant inhibition of growth dynamics with the tumour doubling time extended by >2weeks. These studies demonstrate the functionality and action of a new pro-drug nucleotide for CRC., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Novel sulfur and selenium substituted 5',5'-linked dinucleoside pyrophate analogues were prepared in a vibration ball mill from the corresponding persilylated monophosphate. The chemical hydrolysis of pyrophosphorochalcogenolate-linked dimers was studied over a wide pH-range. The effect of the chalcogeno-substitution on the reactivity of dinucleoside pyrophosphates was surprisingly modest, and the chemical stability is promising considering the potential therapeutic or diagnostic applications. The chemical stability of the precursor phosphorochalcogenolate monoesters was also investigated. Hydrolytic desilylation of these materials was effected in aqueous buffer at pH 3, 7 or 11 and resulted in phosphorus-chalcogen bond scission which was monitored using 31 P NMR. The rate of dephosphorylation was dependent upon both the nature of the chalcogen and the pH. The integrity of the P-S bond in the corresponding phosphorothiolate was maintained at high pH but rapidly degraded at pH 3. In contrast, P-Se bond cleavage of the phosphoroselenolate monoester was rapid and the rate increased with alkalinity. The results obtained in kinetic experiments provide insight on the reactivity of the novel pyrophosphates studied as well as of other types of thiosubstituted biological phosphates. At the same time, these results also provide evidence for possible formation of unexpectedly reactive intermediates as the chalcogen-substituted analogues are metabolised.

Oligodeoxynucleotides incorporating internucleotide phosphoroselenolate linkages have been prepared under solid-phase synthesis conditions using dimer phosphoramidites. These dimers were constructed following the high yielding Michaelis-Arbuzov (M-A) reaction of nucleoside H -phosphonate derivatives with 5'-deoxythymidine-5'-selenocyanate and subsequent phosphitylation. Efficient coupling of the dimer phosphoramidites to solid-supported substrates was observed under both manual and automated conditions and required only minor modifications to the standard DNA synthesis cycle. In a further demonstration of the utility of M-A chemistry, the support-bound selenonucleoside was reacted with an H -phosphonate and then chain extended using phosphoramidite chemistry. Following initial unmasking of methyl-protected phosphoroselenolate diesters, pure oligodeoxynucleotides were isolated using standard deprotection and purification procedures and subsequently characterised by mass spectrometry and circular dichroism. The CD spectra of both modified and native duplexes derived from self-complementary sequences with A-form, B-form or mixed conformational preferences were essentially superimposable. These sequences were also used to study the effect of the modification upon duplex stability which showed context-dependent destabilisation (-0.4 to -3.1 °C per phosphoroselenolate) when introduced at the 5'-termini of A-form or mixed duplexes or at juxtaposed central loci within a B-form duplex (-1.0 °C per modification). As found with other nucleic acids incorporating selenium, expeditious crystallisation of a modified decanucleotide A-form duplex was observed and the structure solved to a resolution of 1.45 Å. The DNA structure adjacent to the modification was not significantly perturbed. The phosphoroselenolate linkage was found to impart resistance to nuclease activity., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2019.)

The labelling of DNA oligonucleotides with signalling groups that give a unique response to duplex formation depending on the target sequence is a highly effective strategy in the design of DNA-based hybridisation sensors. A key challenge in the design of these so-called base discriminating probes (BDPs) is to understand how the local environment of the signalling group affects the sensing response. The work herein describes a comprehensive study involving a variety of photophysical techniques, NMR studies and molecular dynamics simulations, on anthracene-tagged oligonucleotide probes that can sense single base changes (point variants) in target DNA strands. A detailed analysis of the fluorescence sensing mechanism is provided, with a particular focus on rationalising the high dependence of this process on not only the linker stereochemistry but also the site of nucleobase variation within the target strand. The work highlights the various factors and techniques used to respectively underpin and rationalise the BDP approach to point variant sensing, which relies on different responses to duplex formation rather than different duplex binding strengths.

The application of mechanical force to induce the formation and cleavage of covalent bonds is a rapidly developing field within organic chemistry which has particular value in reducing or eliminating solvent usage, enhancing reaction rates and also in enabling the preparation of products which are otherwise inaccessible under solution-phase conditions. Mechanochemistry has also found recent attention in materials chemistry and API formulation during which rearrangement of non-covalent interactions give rise to functional products. However, this has been known to nucleic acids science almost since its inception in the late nineteenth century when Miescher exploited grinding to facilitate disaggregation of DNA from tightly bound proteins through selective denaturation of the latter. Despite the wide application of ball milling to amino acid chemistry, there have been limited reports of mechanochemical transformations involving nucleoside or nucleotide substrates on preparative scales. A survey of these reactions is provided, the majority of which have used a mixer ball mill and display an almost universal requirement for liquid to be present within the grinding vessel. Mechanochemistry of charged nucleotide substrates, in particular, provides considerable benefits both in terms of efficiency (reducing total processing times from weeks to hours) and by minimising exposure to aqueous conditions, access to previously elusive materials. In the absence of large quantities of solvent and heating, side-reactions can be reduced or eliminated. The central contribution of mechanochemistry (and specifically, ball milling) to the isolation of biologically active materials derived from nuclei by grinding will also be outlined. Finally non-covalent associative processes involving nucleic acids and related materials using mechanochemistry will be described: specifically, solid solutions, cocrystals, polymorph transitions, carbon nanotube dissolution and inclusion complex formation.

Using vibration ball milling, 5'-chloro-5'-deoxyadenosine (CldA) reacts cleanly with 4-methoxybenzyl mercaptan (MobSH), under basic conditions, to the corresponding thioether (MobSdA), which is isolated following precipitation and trituration. Under acidic conditions, in a one-pot, two-step process, MobSdA is transformed into 5'-deoxy-5'-(5-nitropyridyl-2-disulfanyl)-adenosine (NPySSdA). Michaelis-Arbuzov (M-A) reaction of NPySSdA with tris(trimethylsilyl) phosphite proceeds to completion within 30 min as determined by 31 P NMR, and the persilylated M-A product thus formed can be stored in solution under anhydrous conditions at room temperature for several days (in contrast, the anionic phosphorothiolate monoester is labile to hydrolysis). Following evaporation, mechanochemical mixing of the crude M-A product with the nucleotide donor adenosine 5'-monophosphomorpholidate under acidic activation in the presence of additional water gives rapid hydrolytic desilylation and phosphate coupling, so that essentially complete reaction is observed after 90 min and dASppA isolated following C-18 reversed phase HPLC and desalting (>99% pure as determined by monitoring at 260 nm). © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., (Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

Vibration ball-milling in a zirconia-lined vessel afforded clean and quantitative nucleophilic displacement reactions between 4-methoxybenzylthiolate salts and nucleoside 5'-halides or 5'-tosylates in five to 60 minutes. Under these conditions, commonly-encountered nucleoside cyclisation byproducts (especially of purine nucleosides) were not observed. Liquid-assisted grinding of the same 5'-iodide and 5'-tosylate substrates with potassium selenocyanate in the presence of DMF produced the corresponding 5'-selenocyanates in variable yields over the course of between one and eleven hours thereby avoiding the preparation and use of hygroscopic tetrabutylammonium salts.

Michaelis-Arbuzov reactions of S-aryl disulfide derivatives of 3'-thiothymidine or 5'-thioadenosine with tris(trimethylsilyl) phosphite proceeded in high yields to the corresponding phosphorothiolate monoesters. Subsequent hydrolytic desilylation and phosphate coupling were effected in one-pot using liquid-assisted grinding in a vibration ball mill. Novel 3',5'- and 5',5'-pyrophosphorothiolate-linked dinucleoside cap analogues were thereby prepared.

Novel nucleoside analogues containing photoswitchable moieties were prepared using 'click' cycloaddition reactions between 5'-azido-5'-deoxythymidine and mono- or bis-N-propargylamide-substituted azobenzenes. In solution, high to quantitative yields were achieved using 5 mol% Cu(I) in the presence of a stabilizing ligand. 'Click' reactions using the monopropargylamides were also effected in the absence of added cuprous salts by the application of liquid assisted grinding (LAG) in metallic copper reaction vials. Specifically, high speed vibration ball milling (HSVBM) using a 3/32″ (2.38 mm) diameter copper ball (62 mg) at 60 Hz overnight in the presence of ethyl acetate lead to complete consumption of the 5'-azido nucleoside with clean conversion to the corresponding 1,3-triazole.

Strain promoted cycloaddition is presented as a tool for RNA conjugation on the solid phase; RNA-cyclooctyne conjugates are prepared by cycloaddition to both azide (strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition, SPAAC) and nitrile oxide dipoles (strain-promoted nitrile oxide-alkyne cycloaddition, SPNOAC). The conjugation is compatible with 2'-OMe blocks and with 2'-O-TBDMS protection on the ribose moieties of the sugar. Nitrile oxide dipoles are found to be more reactive click partners than azides. The conjugation proceeds within 10 min in aqueous solvents, at room temperature without any metal catalyst and tolerates dipoles of varying steric bulk and electronic demands, including pyrenyl, coumarin and dabcyl derivatives.

Modified DNA strands undergo a reversible light-induced reaction involving the intramolecular photodimerization of two appended anthracene tags. The photodimers exhibit markedly different binding behavior toward a complementary strand that depends on the number of bases between the modified positions. By preforming the duplex, photochromism can be suppressed, illustrating dual-mode gated behavior.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms within a sequence of a gene associated with prostate cancer were identified using oligodeoxynucleotide probe sequences bearing internal anthracene fluorophores proximal to the SNP site. Depending upon the nature of the synthesised target sequences, probe-target duplex formation could lead to enhanced or attenuated fluorescence emission from the anthracene, enabling detection of a proximal base-pair as either matching or mismatching., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Using a ball mill, rapid, atom-economic coupling between adenosine-5'-phosphoromorpholidate and phosphorylated ribose derivatives as their sodium or barium salts was achieved. Facile purification by reversed-phase HPLC enabled product isolation within hours.

A fluorescent DNA probe containing an anthracene group attached via an anucleosidic linker can identify all four DNA bases at a single site as well as the epigenetic modification C/5-MeC via a hybridisation sensing assay., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011)

Ionic liquids are shown to be good solvents for elemental sulfur, selenium, phosphorus and tellurium, and can be designed to maximise the solubility of these elements. The presence of the [S(3)](*-) radical anion in diluted solutions of sulfur in some ionic liquids has been confirmed, and is the origin of their intense blue colour (cf. lapis lazuli).

Solid-phase oligonucleotide conjugation by nitrile oxide-alkyne click cycloaddition chemistry has been successfully demonstrated; the reaction, compatible with all nucleobases, requires no metal catalyst and proceeds under physiological conditions.

Protein TrwC is the conjugative relaxase responsible for DNA processing in plasmid R388 bacterial conjugation. TrwC has two catalytic tyrosines, Y18 and Y26, both able to carry out cleavage reactions using unmodified oligonucleotide substrates. Suicide substrates containing a 3'-S-phosphorothiolate linkage at the cleavage site displaced TrwC reaction towards covalent adducts and thereby enabled intermediate steps in relaxase reactions to be investigated. Two distinct covalent TrwC-oligonucleotide complexes could be separated from noncovalently bound protein by SDS-PAGE. As observed by mass spectrometry, one complex contained a single, cleaved oligonucleotide bound to Y18, whereas the other contained two cleaved oligonucleotides, bound to Y18 and Y26. Analysis of the cleavage reaction using suicide substrates and Y18F or Y26F mutants showed that efficient Y26 cleavage only occurs after Y18 cleavage. Strand-transfer reactions carried out with the isolated Y18-DNA complex allowed the assignment of specific roles to each tyrosine. Thus, only Y18 was used for initiation. Y26 was specifically used in the second transesterification that leads to strand transfer, thus catalyzing the termination reaction that occurs in the recipient cell.

Uridine-3'-phosphorothiolate triesters bearing lipophilic moieties were prepared via Michaelis-Arbuzov chemistry. Subsequent deprotection of the S-cholesteryl phosphorothiolate triester afforded the corresponding diester which underwent spontaneous Cyclization to cleanly afford uridine 2',3'-cyclic phosphate. This transesterification reaction could be expedited by treatment with iodine under mild, neutral conditions.

A novel anthracene-tagged oligonucleotide can discriminate between a fully-matched DNA target sequence and one with a single mismatching base-pair through a remarkable difference in fluorescence emission intensity upon duplex formation.

The hairpin ribozyme is an example of a small catalytic RNA that catalyses the endonucleolytic transesterification of RNA in a highly sequence-specific manner. We have utilised chemical synthesis of RNA to create mutants of the hairpin ribozyme in which a nucleoside analogue replaces one of the essential pyrimidines in the ribozyme. Individual pyrimidine nucleosides were substituted by 4-thiouridine, O4-methyluridine, O2-methyluridine or 2-pyrimidinone-1-beta-d-riboside. To facilitate the synthesis of oligoribonucleotides containing 4-thiouridine, we have devised a new synthetic route to the key intermediate 5'-O-(4, 4'-dimethoxytrityl)-2'-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-S-cyanoethyl-4-thiou ridine. The ability of the modified ribozymes to support catalysis was studied and the steady-state kinetic parameters were determined for each mutant. The range of analogues used in this study allows the important functional groups of the essential pyrimidines to be identified. The results demonstrate that each pyrimidine (U41, U42 and C25) plays an important role in hairpin ribozyme catalysis. The findings are discussed in terms of the various models that have been proposed for loop B of the hairpin ribozyme., (Copyright 1999 Academic Press.)

Stable bisubstrate ligands of phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) have been synthesized with AMP or ADP conjugated to hydrolytically-stable, symmetrical analogues of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate and their binding to yeast PGK evaluated. Their Kds decrease with net negative charge, with a penta-anionic analogue 7 showing highest affinity-in accordance with its approximation to the transition state for the reaction catalysed by PGK.

All catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) require or are stimulated by divalent metal ions, but it has been difficult to separate the contribution of these metal ions to formation of the RNA tertiary structure from a more direct role in catalysis. The Tetrahymena ribozyme catalyses cleavage of exogenous RNA or DNA substrates with an absolute requirement for Mg2+ or Mn2+ (ref. 6). A DNA substrate, in which the bridging 3' oxygen atom at the cleavage site is replaced by sulphur, is cleaved by the ribozyme about 1,000 times more slowly than the corresponding unmodified DNA substrate when Mg2+ is present as the only divalent metal ion. But addition of Mn2+ or Zn2+ to the reaction relieves this negative effect, with the 3' S-P bond being cleaved nearly as fast as the 3' O-P bond. Considering that Mn2+ and Zn2+ coordinate sulphur more strongly than Mg2+ does, these results indicate that the metal ion contributes directly to catalysis by coordination to the 3' oxygen atom in the transition state, presumably stabilizing the developing negative charge on the leaving group. We conclude that the Tetrahymena ribozyme is a metalloenzyme, with mechanistic similarities to several protein enzymes.

Oligonucleotides containing a 3'-thiothymidine residue (T3's) at the cleavage site for the EcoRV restriction endonuclease (between the central T and A residues of the sequence GATATC) have been prepared on an automated DNA synthesizer using 5'-O-monomethoxytritylthymidine 3'-S-(2-cyanoethyl N,N-diisopropylphosphorothioamidite). The self-complementary sequence GACGAT3'sATCGTC was completely resistant to cleavage by EcoRV, while the heteroduplex composed of 5'-TCTGAT3'sATCCTC and 5'-GAGGATATCAGA (duplex 4) was cleaved only in the unmodified strand (5'-GAGGATATCAGA). In contrast, strands containing a 3'-S-phosphorothiolate linkage could be chemically cleaved specifically at this site with Ag+. A T3's residue has also been incorporated in the (-) strand of double-stranded closed circular (RF IV) M13mp18 DNA at the cleavage site of a unique EcoRV recognition sequence by using 5'-pCGAGCTCGAT3'sATCGTAAT as a primer for polymerization on the template (+) strand of M13mp18 DNA. On treatment of this substrate with EcoRV, only one strand was cleaved to produce the RF II or nicked DNA. Taken in conjunction with the cleavage studies on the oligonucleotides, this result demonstrates that the 3'-S-phosphorothiolate linkage is resistant to scission by EcoRV. Additionally, the phosphorothiolate-containing strand of the M13mp18 DNA could be cleaved specifically at the point of modification using iodine in aqueous pyridine. The combination of enzymatic and chemical techniques provides, for the first time, a demonstrated method for the sequence-specific cleavage of either the (+) or (-) strand.

Dithymidine-3'-S-phosphorothioate (d(TspT)) has been prepared from a 5'-O-monomethoxytritylthymidine-3'-S-phosphorothioamidite (7) by activation with 5-(p-nitrophenyl)tetrazole in the presence of 3'-O-acetylthymidine. The resulting dinucleoside phosphorothioite is readily oxidised to the corresponding 3'-S-phosphorothioate using either tetrabutylammonium (TBA) periodate or TBA oxone and has been deprotected under standard conditions to yield d(TspT). This dithymidine phosphate analogue is comparatively resistant to hydrolysis by nuclease P1, but the P-S bond is readily cleaved by aqueous solutions of either iodine or silver nitrate. Dithymidine-3'-S-phosphorodithioate (d[Tsp(s)T]) was prepared in an analogous fashion using sulphur to oxidise the intermediate dinucleoside phosphorothioite. Absolute stereochemistry has been assigned to the diastereoisomers of d[Tsp(s)T] by comparing their physical and chemical properties to those of the dinucleoside phosphorothioates.