Examinando por Autor "Vidaurre, Soledad"

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  • Miniatura
    Ítem
    Down-regulation of the antisense mitochondrial non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) is a unique vulnerability of cancer cells and a potential target for cancer therapy
    (2014) Vidaurre, Soledad; Fitzpatrick, Christopher; Burzio, Verónica A.; Briones, Macarena; Villota, Claudio; Villegas, Jaime; Echenique, Javiera; Oliveira-Cruz, Luciana; Araya, Mariela; Borgna, Vincenzo; Socías, Teresa; Lopez, Constanza; Avila, Rodolfo; Burzio, Luis O.
    Hallmarks of cancer are fundamental principles involved in cancer progression. We propose an additional generalized hallmark of malignant transformation corresponding to the differential expression of a family of mitochondrial ncRNAs (ncmtRNAs) that comprises sense and antisense members, all of which contain stem-loop structures. Normal proliferating cells express sense (SncmtRNA) and antisense (ASncmtRNA) transcripts. In contrast, the ASncmtRNAs are down-regulated in tumor cells regardless of tissue of origin. Here we show that knockdown of the low copy number of the ASncmtRNAs in several tumor cell lines induces cell death by apoptosis without affecting the viability of normal cells. In addition, knockdown of ASncmtRNAs potentiates apoptotic cell death by inhibiting survivin expression, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family. Down-regulation of survivin is at the translational level and is probably mediated by microRNAs generated by dicing of the double-stranded stem of the ASncmtRNAs, as suggested by evidence presented here, in which the ASncmtRNAs are bound to Dicer and knockdown of the ASncmtRNAs reduces reporter luciferase activity in a vector carrying the 3′-UTR of survivin mRNA. Taken together, down-regulation of the ASncmtRNAs constitutes a vulnerability or Achilles' heel of cancer cells, suggesting that the ASncmtRNAs are promising targets for cancer therapy. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
  • Miniatura
    Ítem
    Effect of Terminal Groups of Dendrimers in the Complexation with Antisense Oligonucleotides and Cell Uptake
    (SPRINGER, 2016-02) Márquez-Miranda, Valeria; Peñaloza, Juan Pablo; Araya-Durán, Ingrid; Reyes, Rodrigo; Vidaurre, Soledad; Romero, Valentina; Fuentes, Juan; Céric, Francisco; Velásquez, Luis; González-Nilo, Fernando D.; Otero, Carolina
    Poly(amidoamine) dendrimers are the most recognized class of dendrimer. Amino-terminated (PAMAM-NH2) and hydroxyl-terminated (PAMAM-OH) dendrimers of generation 4 are widely used, since they are commercially available. Both have different properties, mainly based on their different overall charges at physiological pH. Currently, an important function of dendrimers as carriers of short single-stranded DNA has been applied. These molecules, known as antisense oligonucleotides (asODNs), are able to inhibit the expression of a target mRNA. Whereas PAMAM-NH2 dendrimers have shown to be able to transfect plasmid DNA, PAMAM-OH dendrimers have not shown the same successful results. However, little is known about their interaction with shorter and more flexible molecules such as asODNs. Due to several initiatives, the use of these neutral dendrimers as a scaffold to introduce other functional groups has been proposed. Because of its low cytotoxicity, it is relevant to understand the molecular phenomena involving these types of dendrimers. In this work, we studied the behavior of an antisense oligonucleotide in presence of both types of dendrimers using molecular dynamics simulations, in order to elucidate if they are able to form stable complexes. In this manner, we demonstrated at atomic level that PAMAM-NH2, unlike PAMAM-OH, could form a well-compacted complex with asODN, albeit PAMAM-OH can also establish stable interactions with the oligonucleotide. The biological activity of asODN in complex with PAMAM-NH2 dendrimer was also shown. Finally, we revealed that in contact with PAMAM-OH, asODN remains outside the cells as TIRF microscopy results showed, due to its poor interaction with this dendrimer and cell membranes.