The present invention relates to RNAi constructs with improved tissue and cellular uptake characteristics and methods of use of these compounds in dermal and fibrotic applications.

The present invention relates to a novel method for stabilizing nucleic acid nanostructures by curing with ultraviolet light, particularly by crosslinking pyrimidine nucleotides.

Aspects of the invention relate to methods for treating an ocular disorder associated with the front of the eye, comprising administering to the eye of a subject in need thereof a therapeutic RNA molecule, in an effective amount to treat an ocular disorder associated with the front of the eye.

The invention relates to a biological system for diminishing cell growth or inducing selective killing of target cells, in particular pathogenic bacterial or fungal cells, or cancer cells. The biological system is based on toxin-antitoxin systems, as found in prokaryotic plasmids and their host chromosomes. The biological system comprises a vehicle with a first nucleic acid sequence or amino acid sequence encoding for a prokaryotic toxin of a prokaryotic toxin-antitoxin pair, and a second nucleic acid sequence or amino acid sequence encoding for the corresponding prokaryotic antitoxin of the prokaryotic toxin-antitoxin pair. The system is characterized in that the toxin and/or the antitoxin is operably linked to a protein output modifier (POM) that comprises a nucleic acid sequence or amino acid sequence that modifies the relative rate of transcription, mRNA stability, mRNA translatability or protein stability of the toxin and/or antitoxin.

Disclosed are compositions and methods related to RNA interference (RNAi) and the use of RNAi active sequence for treating diseases and disorders. Particular disclosed are toxic RNAi active sequences such as siRNA and shRNA for killing cancer cells. The disclosed toxic RNAi active sequences typically include trinucleotide repeats and preferentially target the expression of multiple essential genes for cell survival and/or growth.

Recombinant adenovirus genomes that include a heterologous open reading frame (ORF) and a self-cleaving peptide coding sequence are described. The recombinant adenovirus genomes and recombinant adenoviruses produced by the disclosed genomes can be used, for example, in high-throughput assays to measure virus replication kinetics. Methods for measuring replication kinetics of a recombinant adenovirus are also described.

Provided herein include conditionally activatable small interfering RNA (siRNA) complexes, components, compositions, and related methods and systems. The siRNA complex can be conditionally activated upon a complementary binding to an input nucleic acid strand (e.g., a biomarker gene specific to disease-related cells) through a sequence in a sensor nucleic acid strand of the nucleic acid complex. The activated nucleic acid complex can release a potent RNAi duplex formed by a core nucleic acid strand and a passenger nucleic acid strand, which can specifically inhibit a target RNA.

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.

One aspect of the present invention relates to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) agent capable of inhibiting the expression of a target gene. The sense strand of the dsRNA agent comprises at least one thermally destabilizing nucleotide, and at least one said thermally destabilizing nucleotide occurring at a site opposite to the seed region (positions 2-8) of the antisense strand; and the antisense strand of the dsRNA agent comprises.at least two modified nucleotides that provide the nucleotide a steric bulk that is less than or equal to the steric bulk of a 2-OMe modification, wherein said modified nucleotides are separated by 11 nucleotides in length. Other aspects of the invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these dsRNA agents suitable for therapeutic use, and methods of inhibiting the expression of a target gene by administering these dsRNA agents, e.g., for the treatment of various disease conditions.

Provided is a thrombin binding circular aptamer, the nucleotide sequence thereof being at least one selected from a) to e): a) a nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID NO:1, wherein the 5 end and 3 end are connected to form a ring; b) a nucleotide sequence obtained by substitution in the nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID NO:1, the obtained nucleotide sequence being a circular DNA molecule capable of specific recognition of thrombin; c) a nucleotide sequence obtained by deletion in the nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID NO:1, the obtained nucleotide sequence being a circular DNA molecule capable of specific recognition of thrombin; d) a nucleotide sequence obtained by adding one or more nucleotides to the nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID NO:1; and e) a nucleotide sequence obtained by modification of the nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID NO:1 with a chemical group.