Specific inhibition of in vitro transcription elongation by triplex-forming oligonucleotide-intercalator conjugates targeted to HIV proviral DNA.

A 16-base pair oligo(purine)-oligo(pyrimidine) sequence present in the coding region of two HIV 1 proviral genes (pol and nef) was chosen as a target for triplex-forming oligonucleotides in in vitro transcription assays. Inhibition of transcription elongation was observed with triplex-forming oligonucleotide-acridine conjugates (Acr-15-TCG:5'-Acr-T4CT4G6-3' and Acr-9-TC:5'-Acr-T4CT4-3' where C is 5-methylcytosine) under conditions where the unsubstituted oligomers did not exhibit any inhibitory effect. Both SP6 bacteriophage RNA polymerase and eukaryotic RNA polymerase II were physically blocked by such a triplex barrier. The polymerase arrest is caused by the triple-helical complex involving the hydrogen-bonded oligonucleotide stabilized by the intercalated moiety and not solely by the acridine molecule specifically intercalated at the duplex-triplex junction. The stability of the triple-helical complex formed by the 15-mer containing thymines, cytosine, and guanines (15-TCG) and involving the formation of six contiguous C.GxG base triplets was strongly enhanced in the presence of a benzopyridoindole derivative (BePI), which intercalates in triplex structures. This improvement of the binding affinity led to an increased inhibition of transcription elongation. The present results demonstrate the necessity to use triplex-forming oligonucleotides with high binding affinity and a long residence time on their double-stranded target to efficiently inhibit transcription elongation. These data provide a rational basis for the optimization and the development of triplex-forming oligonucleotides as transcriptional blockers, even when they are targeted to the transcribed portion of a gene, downstream of the transcription initiation site.