Antisense Oligonucleotides: Design, Construction, and Applications to Cardiac Allograft Transfer

Antisense oligonucleotide technology has emerged as an important technique for manipulating gene expression. The theory behind this technique derives from an understanding of transcription and translation. Synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotide chains are engineered complementary to a given messenger RNA (mRNA). By binding to the mRNA, the oligonucleotide prevents protein translation. This blockade may be mediated by RNAase-H degradation of the RNA-oligonucleotide complex. In addition to negative effects on protein translation, oligonucleotides may inhibit mRNA transcription through triple helix formation with complementary DNA regions (1 –3 ).