New Two-Component Pyrene Probes Based on Oligo(2'-O-Methylribonucleotides) for microRNA Detection

Abstract

New two-component pyrene probes based on oligo(2'-O-methylribonucleotides) for microRNA detection have been designed. They contain the (Py)A-modified adenine cluster (pentaadenosine fragment that contains 8-(1-ethynylpyrene)-deoxyriboadenosine in the center) and can form a three-way junction (3WJ) structure with a target RNA. We have chosen microRNA let-7a-3p as the RNA target because of the correlation of its concentration in cells with the appearance and progression of cancer. We have compared the thermal stability and fluorescence properties of the two-component probes based on oligo(2'-O-methylribonucleotides) that contain either deoxyriboadenosine (dAdA(Py)AdAdA) or the (2'-O-methylribo)adenosine (A(m)A(m Py)AA(m)A(m)) cluster with those of (dAdA(Py)AdAdA)-containing oligodeoxyribonucleotide. The changes in the fluorescence spectra of two-component probes after hybridization with the RNA target have been demonstrated. These probes can be used for designing a new microRNA detection system.