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Biomedical subjects

Atsushi Mahara

Publications and source records attributed to Atsushi Mahara.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Various properties of polymeric carriers improved the transfection efficiency.

In order to develop novel efficient gene carriers, we have been focusing on the transcription of transgene in the nucleus among various steps in the gene transfer system. Optimal carrier properties for improving the transgene recognition by transcription factors have not been clarified so far. In the present study, we established a novel evaluation system for the intranuclear transcription efficiency of the transgene using microinjection technique. Polyplexes composed of polypeptides with different molecular weights were microinjected into the cytoplasm or nucleus of COS-1 cells, and the relationship between the carrier properties, such as molecular weight, and the intranuclear transcription efficiency was evaluated. The molecular weight (Mw) dependency of the transgene transcription in the living cells was successfully quantified, and the low Mw polymers were found not to suppress the transcription but high Mw polymers allowed almost no transcription. Interestingly, the transcription efficiencies of poly(arginine) (PR) and poly(lysine) (PK) were almost same although the PR is widely reported to be more efficient gene carrier than PK. The difference in the various properties and intracellular trafficking of PR/DNA and PK/DNA polyplexes will be discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Luminescence anisotropy-based detection of nucleic acids and proteins using long-lifetime Ru(II) complex as a luminescent label.

Luminescence anisotropy-based methods are powerful tool for the detection of biomolecules in homogeneous physiological media without Bound/Free separation. However, analyses based on the method are always disturbed by the autofluorescence from biological specimen. This disturbance limits the sensitivity of the method. To improve the detection limit of the method, a long-lifetime luminophore was adopted as the label. Because of the lifetime of the autofluorescence is below 10 ns, it is expected that the use of the long-lifetime luminophore enables us to avoid the disturbance by adopting time-resolved luminescence anisotropy measurement. To verify this concept, oligodeoxyribonucleotides and Staphylococcus aureus protein A were labeled with Ru(II) complex (tau approximately 500 nsec) and used for the detection of Escherichia coli 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), respectively. Results indicated that the methods were useful for the detection of rRNA and IgG without disturbance of the autofluorescence.

Anisotropy↗
PubMed2005

Evaluation of dynamic features of Escherichia coli 16S ribosomal RNA in homogeneous physiological solution.

There is no methodology for the estimation of the dynamic features of large-molecular-weight RNAs in homogeneous physiological media. In this report, a luminescence anisotropy-based method using a long-lifetime luminescent oligonucleotide probe for the estimation of the dynamic features of large-molecular-weight RNA is described. As a luminescent probe, Ru(II) complex-labeled oligonucleotides, which have a complementary sequence to the single-stranded regions of Escherichia coli 16S rRNA, were synthesized. After the hybridization of the probe to single-stranded regions of 16S rRNA, the segmental motions of the regions were evaluated by time-resolved luminescence anisotropy analysis. In 16S rRNA, the L2 site (323-332 nt) was found to be the most flexible among the seven sites chosen. From a comparison between the hybridization kinetics of oligonucleotides to these single-stranded regions and the rotational correlation times, it was suggested that the flexibility of the single-stranded region was closely correlated with the hybridization kinetics. Furthermore, results of the luminescence lifetime measurement and luminescence quenching experiments suggested that the highly flexible region was located on the surface of the 16S rRNA and that the less flexible region was located in the depths of 16S rRNA.

Body Fluids↗
PubMed2004

Transcriptome analysis using fluorescence-labeled oligonucleotide.

In our previous studies, the fluorescence intensity at 480 nm of the bispyrene-labeled 2'-O-methyl-oligoribonucleotide (OMUpy2) was drastically enhanced only when it was hybridized with its complementary RNA. In this study, we demonstrated the potential of the OMUpy2 for transcriptome analysis in the cell free system and in the living cell. For the analysis in the cell free system, the micro-chamber was designed and used to evaluate the detection limit of the target RNA. The detection limit of oligo-RNA was approximately 15 fmol. For the analysis of the living cells, C-OMUpy2 was introduced to the cervical carcinoma cells, C4II, and the fluorescence from C-OMUpy2 was monitored. The fluorescence from the cells began to be observed 5 min after the serum stimulation, and the fluorescence was decreased after 20 min. These results seemed to be consistent with the results from the RT-PCR analysis and suggested that OMUpy2 could be a useful tool for the transcriptome analysis.

Cell Line, Tumor↗
PubMed2003

Detection of acceptor sites for antisense oligonucleotides on native folded RNA by fluorescence spectroscopy.

Antisense strategy has high potential for curing diseases and studying gene functions by suppressing the translation step. For the strategy, it is essential to detect acceptor sites of antisense molecules on mRNA under physiological conditions. We propose a new analytical method for the detection of acceptor sites of antisense molecules with high sensitivity. 2'-O-Methyloligoribonucleotide containing 2'-O-(1-pyrenylmethyl)uridine (OMUpy) was chosen as the fluorescence probe. The fluorescence intensity due to the pyrene in single-stranded OMUpy was scarcely observed. When OMUpy was hybridized with the complementary oligoRNA, the fluorescence intensity at 375 nm was remarkably increased. It was found that the increase was derived from the localization of the pyrene by the measurements of time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, CD and UV absorption spectra. These results suggest that the change of the fluorescence intensity of OMUpy can be a useful index to monitor hybridization. In this study, we chose Escherichia coli. 16S-rRNA as the model RNA and chose seven regions for probing by OMUpy based on the reported secondary structure of 16S-rRNA. The fluorescence intensity of an equimolar mixture of OMUpy with 16S-rRNA varied depending on the sequence. In particular, the increment in the system of OMUpy-8, which can hybridize with region 887-896 nt of 16S-rRNA, was most significant among the systems. These results indicated that the site targeted by OMUpy-8 was exposed to regulatory molecules, and suggest that the method presented here is useful to design antisense molecules.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Detection of acceptor sites for antisense oligonucleotides on native folded RNA by fluorescence-labeled oligonucleotide.

Pyrene-labeled 2'-O-methyloligoribonucleotide (OMUpy) and 5'-Ru(II) complex labeled oligodeoxyribonucleotie (Ru-probe) were prepared as the fluorescence probes to detect acceptor sites of antisense molecules on native folded RNA under the physiological condition. OMUpy showed the remarkable increase of the fluorescence intensity (334-fold at 375 nm) only when hybridized with complementary oligoRNA. When OMUpy was applied to E. coli 16S-rRNA, the fluorescence intensities were increased in a sequence specific manner. The rotational correlation time of Ru-probe complementary to 16S-rRNA were largely dependent on the sequence of Ru-probe. These results suggest that the accessibility of the antisense molecules for RNA can be evaluated by those fluorescent probes.

Fluorescent Dyes↗