UNA (Unlocked Nucleic Acid) as a Key Modification for RNAi Applications

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SELECTBIO

Jesper Wengel, Professor, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark

Abstract
UNA (unlocked nucleic acid) and LNA (locked nucleic acid) are two RNA analogs which display very different RNA-binding properties. It will be reviewed how UNA and LNA modifications can be used to target RNA segments with one focus being on how strategic incorporations of UNA monomers in siRNA constructs enable a combination of potent gene silencing and reduced off-target effects.