Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Osaka University

The University of Tokyo

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition

Institute of Science Tokyo

Takanori Yokota

Kazutaka Nishina

Hidehiro Mizusawa

Satoshi Obika

Tetsuya Nagata

Kotaro Yoshioka

Kazunori Kataoka

Nobuhiro Nishiyama

Takehiko Ishii

Kanjiro Miyata

Shigekazu Sasaki

Hideki Furukawa

Yasutaka Anraku

Tomohiro Seki

Kosuke Hidaka

Takatoshi Yogo

Yasuo Nakagawa

Yu Matsumoto

Kenichi Miyata

Ryosuke Tokunoh

Yu Fukusato

Akihiro Mizoguchi

Hiroya Kuwahara

Toshinori Unno

Takeshi Wada

Masahiro Murakami

Hideki Mochizuki

Yuya Kasahara

Satoru Ishibashi

Masayuki Nakamori

Yusuke Adachi

Akio Uchida

Tetuya Nagata

Naoto Arimura

Takenori Shimo

A method of reducing the level of a transcription product in a cell comprising contacting with the cell a composition comprising a double-stranded nucleic acid complex comprising a first nucleic acid strand annealed to a second nucleic acid strand, wherein: (i) the first nucleic acid strand hybridizes to the transcription product and comprises (a) a region consisting of at least 4 consecutive nucleotides that are recognized by RNase H when the strand is hybridized to the transcription product, (b) one or more nucleotide analogs located on 5' terminal side of the region, (c) one or more nucleotide analogs located on 3′ terminal side of the region and (d) a total number of nucleotides and nucleotide analogs ranging from 8 to 35 nucleotides and (ii) the second nucleic acid strand comprises (a) nucleotides and optionally nucleotide analogs and (b) at least 4 consecutive RNA nucleotides.

Chimeric double-stranded nucleic acid

The object of the present invention is to provide a nucleic acid agent that can be efficiently delivered to the nervous system, particularly the central nervous system to which the BBB mechanism prevents drug delivery, and can produce an antisense effect on a target transcriptional product at the delivered site, and a composition comprising the same. Provided is a double-stranded nucleic acid complex formed by annealing a first nucleic acid strand capable of hybridizing to part of a target transcriptional product, and has an antisense effect on the target transcriptional product, to a second nucleic acid strand comprising a base sequence complementary to the first nucleic acid strand, and is bound to tocopherol or an analog thereof, cholesterol or an analog thereof, or a substituted or unsubstituted Calkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted Calkenyl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted Calkoxy group.

BBB-crossing lipid ligand of hetero nucleic acid

An object of the invention is to provide a low toxicity antisense nucleic acid medicine that can modulate expression of a target transcriptional product in the central nervous system and other sites of a subject. Provided is a low toxicity composition for modulating expression of a target transcriptional product in a site such as the central nervous system of a subject, having a nucleic acid complex formed by annealing together a first nucleic acid strand having an antisense oligonucleotide region with respect to the target transcriptional product, and a second nucleic acid strand having a complementary region that is complementary to at least part of the first nucleic acid strand.

Nucleic acid with reduced toxicity

The present invention provides an antisense nucleic acid medicine that can modulate expression of a target transcriptional product in an ischemic site of a subject. The present invention also provides a composition for modulating expression of a target transcriptional product in an ischemic site of a subject, having a nucleic acid complex formed by annealing together a first nucleic acid strand having an antisense oligonucleotide region with respect to the target transcriptional product, and a lipid-conjugated second nucleic acid strand having a complementary region that is complementary to at least part of the first nucleic acid strand.

Ischemic-lesion-site-specific gene therapy

Developed and provided is: a nucleic acid agent that is efficiently delivered to the central nervous system, to which drug delivery is inhibited by the blood brain barrier mechanism, and that provides an antisense effect to a target transcription product at the delivery site; and a composition containing such a nucleic acid agent. Provided is a double-stranded nucleic acid complex consisting of a first nucleic acid strand and a second nucleic acid strand that are annealed to each other; wherein the first nucleic acid strand hybridizes with part of a target transcription product and has an antisense effect on the target transcription product; and wherein the second nucleic acid strand includes a base sequence complementary to the first nucleic acid strand and is conjugated to a phosphatidylethanolamine or an analog thereof.

Nucleic acid complex

The present invention provides a composition and a method for efficiently delivering a nucleic acid agent to the central nervous system and/or the retina and bringing about antisense effects. Provided is a composition for reducing the expression level of a target transcription product in the central nervous system and/or retina of a subject, the composition including a nucleic acid complex that includes a first nucleic acid strand and a second nucleic acid strand, wherein: the first nucleic acid strand comprises a base sequence capable of hybridizing with at least part of the target transcription product and has an antisense effect on the target transcription product; the second nucleic acid strand comprises a base sequence complementary to the first nucleic acid strand and is conjugated to tocopherol, cholesterol, or an analog thereof; and the first nucleic acid strand is annealed to the second nucleic acid strand.

Blood-brain barrier permeable heteroduplex nucleic acid

Provided is a nucleic acid strand that can efficiently deliver an antisense oligonucleotide into the body, particularly a nucleic acid complex comprising a first nucleic acid strand and a second nucleic acid strand, wherein the first nucleic acid strand includes a base sequence that is capable of hybridizing with at least a portion of a target transcription product, and exerts an antisense effect on the target transcription product; the second nucleic acid strand includes a complementary region having a base sequence complementary to the first nucleic acid strand and at least one overhang region located on the 5' and/or 3&#x2032; side of the complementary region; and the first nucleic acid strand is annealed to the complementary region in the second nucleic acid strand.

Double-stranded nucleic acid complex having overhang

The present invention can provide a nucleic acid medicine which has a higher effect and a more prolonged effect of inhibiting the expression of &#x3b1;-synudein can be provided. Disclosed is the oligonucleotide or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof, the oligonucleotide containing at least one nucleoside structure represented by Formula (I): (where each of Base and A are defined substituent or structure), can bind to an &#x3b1;-synudein gene, has activity for inhibiting expression of the &#x3b1;-synudein gene, and is complementary to the &#x3b1;-synudein gene, and the oligonucleotide has a length of twelve to twenty bases. 

&#x3b1;-synuclein expression inhibitor

A method of reducing the level of a transcription product in a cell comprising contacting with the cell a composition comprising a double-stranded nucleic acid complex comprising a first nucleic acid strand annealed to a second nucleic acid strand, wherein: (i) the first nucleic acid strand hybridizes to the transcription product and comprises (a) a region consisting of at least 4 consecutive nucleotides that are recognized by RNase H when the strand is hybridized to the transcription product, (b) one or more nucleotide analogs located on 5' terminal side of the region, (c) one or more nucleotide analogs located on 3&#x2032; terminal side of the region and (d) a total number of nucleotides and nucleotide analogs ranging from 8 to 35 nucleotides and (ii) the second nucleic acid strand comprises (a) nucleotides and optionally nucleotide analogs and (b) at least 4 consecutive RNA nucleotides.

Disclosed are double-stranded nucleic acid agents that can deliver a therapeutic oligonucleotide within a biological sample, and methods for using the same. In one embodiment, the double-stranded nucleic acid agent comprises a first strand comprising a first RNA region, and a second strand comprising a first DNA region, wherein said first RNA region and said first DNA region are hybridized as a RNA/DNA heteroduplex. Said first strand further comprises a nucleic acid therapeutic oligonucleotide region that is capable of being cleaved from at least one nucleotide in said first RNA region. Methods for using the double-stranded nucleic acid agents include methods for delivering the therapeutic oligonucleotide as a single strand by cleaving it from at least a portion of the first RNA region. The methods further include delivering the double-stranded nucleic acid agent and thus the therapeutic oligonucleotide to a target site within the body of a treatment subject.

Double-stranded agents for delivering therapeutic oligonucleotides

The present invention provides a vesicle, a conjugate, a composition comprising the vesicle or the conjugate, for use in delivering a drug to the brain, and a method for administering the same. The composition of the present invention is a composition for administration to a subject according to a dosing regimen, comprising a carrier for drug delivery, wherein the dosing regimen comprises administering the composition to a subject who has been fasted or caused to have hypoglycemia and inducing an increase in blood glucose level in the subject, and the carrier is modified at the outer surface thereof with a GLUT1 ligand.

Carrier for use in delivering drug, conjugate, composition comprising same, and method for administrating same

Chimeric single-stranded polynucleotides and double-stranded antisense agents useful for modifying the expression of a target gene by means of an antisense effect are disclosed. The chimeric single-stranded antisense polynucleotide and double-stranded antisense agents comprise a central nucleotide region flanked by a first 5'-wing region and a first 3&#x2032;-wing region of modified nucleotides, which are themselves flanked by a second 5&#x2032;-wing region and/or a second 3&#x2032;-wing region of nucleotides that have a low affinity for proteins and/or that have higher resistance to DNase or RNase than a natural DNA or RNA and are missing in a cell when the chimeric polynucleotide delivered. The double-stranded antisense agent further comprises a complementary strand annealed to the antisense strand. The polynucleotide can be used to modify RNA transcription levels, miRNA activity, or protein levels in cells.

Chimeric single-stranded antisense polynucleotides and double-stranded antisense agent

Disclosed are double-stranded antisense nucleic acid complexes that can efficiently alter the processing of RNA in a cell via an antisense effect, and methods for using the same. One method comprises contacting with the cell a double-stranded nucleic acid complex comprising: a first nucleic acid strand annealed to a second nucleic acid strand, wherein: the first nucleic acid strand comprises (i) nucleotides independently selected from natural DNA nucleotides, modified DNA nucleotides, and nucleotide analogs, (ii) no regions that have 4 or more consecutive natural DNA nucleotides, (iii) the total number of natural DNA nucleotides, modified DNA nucleotides, and nucleotide analogs in the first nucleic acid strand is from 8 to 100, and (iv) the first nucleic acid strand is capable of hybridizing to RNA inside of the cell; and the second nucleic acid strand comprises nucleotides independently selected from natural RNA nucleotides, modified RNA nucleotides, and nucleotide analogs.

Double-stranded antisense nucleic acid with exon-skipping effect

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Takanori Yokota