Macalester College
December 2002
Garett M Padilla
Background
Synthesis
Properties of Morpholinos
Applications of Morpholinos
Methods of Delivery
Controls
Alternatives to Morpholinos
Links
Background
- Morpholino technology is one technique of Anti-sense technology
- It binds endogenous mRNA and prevents transcription through steric
interference
Synthesis
- Morpholinos are first synthesized converting ribonucleosides to a
morpholine ring structu
Click on the link below to see subunit synthesis :
Morpholinos function by binding to the 5' UTR
region and prevent the ribosomal initiation complex from binding to
the cognate mRNA. Morpholinos can also enter the nucleus and base pair
with a "pre-mRNA" before it has been post-transcriptionally
modified.
Properties of
Morpholinos
- High Solubility
- Stable
- Non-ionic
- RNase-H Independent
- High Specificity
Applications of Morpholinos
- Blocking mRNA translation
- Blocking Nuclear Processing
- "Gene Switching"
- Anti-sense Therapeuticals
Methods of Delivery
- Scrape Method
- Special Delivery Method
Controls
- Inverted Anti-sense Control
- Sense Control
- "Stringent" Sense Control
Alternatives
to Morpholinos
- Phosphothioates
- Chimeras
- Peptide Nucleic Acids
Links
Morpholino Synthesis
Gene Tools Inc.
Antisense Technologies Comparison
Leading References
Hudziak, Barofsky, Barofsky, Weller, Huang, Weller (1996).
Resistance of Morpholino phophorodiamidate oligomers to enzymatic degradation.
Antisense Nucleic Acid Drug Development. 6, 267.
Partridge, Vincent, Matthews, Puma, Stein, Summerton (1996).
A simple method for delivering Morpholino antisense oligos into the cytoplasm
of cells. Antisense Nucleic Acid Drug Development. 6,
169.
Stein (1995). Does antisense exist? Nature Medicine
1. 1119.