Sugar Express: Entry of Nucleotides into Cells for Gene Silencing

Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) are short DNA strands that can be introduced to a particular cell to inhibit the expression of genes with complementary nucleotide sequences. In ODN inhibition, the nucleotide strand binds to mRNA, therefore preventing it to be translated. Antisense inhibition holds a rapid diagnostic tool in both plants and animals. However, specific mechanisms of ODN inhibition are not well understood.

Scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have shown that ODN entry into plant cells are mediated by active transport of sugars through translocators. Translocators are molecular “doors” that facilitate the entry and exit of particular compounds. The transport of ODN was monitored by scientists in barley tissues by attaching fluorescent dyes to the nucleotide strands. The scientists suggest a scenario in which ODN ‘piggyback’ on the transported sugar molecules through molecular gates, specifically in sucrose translocators. By utilizing sugars as facilitator for ODN entry, gene activity can de suppressed by antisense ODN inhibition. Antisense ODN inhibition can be an efficient and versatile approach for assessing the function of specific plant genes.

The abstract of the paper published by the Plant Journal is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2007.03287.x Subscribers can read the full paper at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2007.03287.x