How Does It Work? | Peptide-Oligonucleotide Conjugates

This week’s episode of our “How Does It Work?” series features Peptide-Oligonucleotide Conjugates.

Peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates are made up of peptide and oligonucleotide components. These cutting-edge molecules have many applications in biomedicine.

The oligonucleotide component can interact with mRNA to alter gene expression within diseased cells but oligonucleotides are easily degraded in the body and have difficulty penetrating cells. The conjugation of peptides to the oligonucleotide can protect them from degradation. The peptide component can also bind to proteins on the surface of cells and enhance the traffic of oligonucleotides into cells. They can even deliver oligonucleotides into specific tissues helping to target tissue-specific diseases.

Peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates bring hope for improved dosing, efficacies, and treatment options for patients. These important molecules are also helping with early drug discovery, and as tools for basic research.