New Modalities in Oncology: Antisense Oligonucleotides

New modalities in oncology: antisense oligonucleotides.

New and innovative cancer treatments are appearing at an astonishing rate. Although the array of new approaches seems breathtaking, most can be grouped into a few categories based on underlying purpose. For example, with our greater understanding of the genetic defects that predispose to malignant cell growth has come the idea of therapeutic agents targeted to a single mutant protein. This appr...

Evolution of Antisense Oligonucleotides in Oncology

Designing Antisense Oligonucleotides

Antisense Oligonucleotides Targeting Protein

Designing Antisense Oligonucleotides

Antisense oligonucleotides have been used for a number of years to modify the expression of specific genes both in vivo and in vitro (Scanlon et al., 1995). The most potent mode of antisense activity is through RNase H–mediated degradation of RNA (Figure 1). The RNase H– endonuclease specifically cleaves RNA only when it is hybridized as a heteroduplex with DNA. In general, oligonucleotides tha...