Short interfering RNA guide strand modifiers from computational screening

Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are promising drug candidates for a wide range of targets including those previously considered "undruggable". However, properties associated with the native RNA structure limit drug development, and chemical modifications are necessary. Here we describe the structure-guided discovery of functional modifications for the guide strand 5′-end using computational screening with the high-resolution structure of human Ago2, the key nuclease on the RNA interference pathway. Our results indicate the guide strand 5′-end nucleotide need not engage in Watson-Crick (W/C) H-bonding but must fit the general shape of the 5′-end binding site in MID/PIWI domains of hAgo2 for efficient knockdown. 1,2,3-Triazol-4-yl bases formed from the CuAAC reaction of azides and 1-ethynylribose, which is readily incorporated into RNA via the phosphoramidite, perform well at the guide strand 5′-end. In contrast, purine derivatives with modified Hoogsteen faces or N2 substituents are poor choices for 5′-end modifications. Finally, we identified a 1,2,3-triazol-4-yl base incapable of W/C H-bonding that performs well at guide strand position 12, where base pairing to target was expected to be important. This work expands the repertoire of functional nucleotide analogues for siRNAs.