The effect of 2'-O-(N-methylcarbamoyl)ethyl (MCE) modification on splice-switching oligonucleotides (SSO) was systematically evaluated. The incorporation of five MCE nucleotides at the 5'-termini of SSOs effectively improved the splice switching effect. In addition, the incorporation of 2'-O-(N-methylcarbamoylethyl)-5-methyl-2-thiouridine (s2TMCE), a duplex-stabilizing nucleotide with an MCE modification, into SSOs further improved splice switching. These SSOs may be useful for the treatment of genetic diseases associated with splicing errors.
Keywords: 2′-O-modification; Chemically modified RNA; Exon skipping; Nucleic acid therapeutics; Splice-switching oligonucleotide.
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