Using Oligonucleotide Scanning Arrays to Find Effective Antisense Reagents

Antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) are synthetic deoxyribonucleic acids, typically between 15–25 nucleotides, that can bind to complementary sites in a mRNA and inhibit translation. AONs show promise as therapeutics to many diseases caused by abnormal or unwanted expression of a gene, such as cancers. The first antisense oligonucleotide-based drug (Vitravene™: ISIS Pharmaceuticals) was introduced in 1998 to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients: several others are in advanced stages of clinical trials for viral diseases and cancer. Antisense oligonucleotides are also a useful tool in the functional analysis of genes.