| 1. |
- Clausson, Carl-Magnus, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Compaction of rolling circle amplification products increases signal integrity and signal–to–noise ratio
- 2015
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 5, s. 12317:1-10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rolling circle amplification (RCA) for generation of distinct fluorescent signals in situ relies upon the self-collapsing properties of single-stranded DNA in commonly used RCA-based methods. By introducing a cross-hybridizing DNA oligonucleotide during rolling circle amplification, we demonstrate that the fluorophore-labeled RCA products (RCPs) become smaller. The reduced size of RCPs increases the local concentration of fluorophores and as a result, the signal intensity increases together with the signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, we have found that RCPs sometimes tend to disintegrate and may be recorded as several RCPs, a trait that is prevented with our cross-hybridizing DNA oligonucleotide. These effects generated by compaction of RCPs improve accuracy of visual as well as automated in situ analysis for RCA based methods, such as proximity ligation assays (PLA) and padlock probes.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- El-Heliebi, Amin, et al.
(author)
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In Situ Detection and Quantification of AR-V7, AR-FL, PSA, and KRAS Point Mutations in Circulating Tumor Cells
- 2018
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In: Clinical Chemistry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0009-9147 .- 1530-8561. ; 64:3, s. 536-546
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Liquid biopsies can be used in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) to detect androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7), a splicing product of the androgen receptor. Patients with AR-V7-positive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have greater benefit of taxane chemotherapy compared with novel hormonal therapies, indicating a treatment-selection biomarker. Likewise, in those with pancreatic cancer (PaCa), KRAS mutations act as prognostic biomarkers. Thus, there is an urgent need for technology investigating the expression and mutation status of CTCs. Here, we report an approach that adds AR-V7 or KRAS status to CTC enumeration, compatible with multiple CTC-isolation platforms.METHODS: We studied 3 independent CTC-isolation devices (CellCollector, Parsortix, CellSearch) for the evaluation of AR-V7 or KRAS status of CTCs with in situ padlock probe technology. Padlock probes allow highly specific detection and visualization of transcripts on a cellular level. We applied padlock probes for detecting AR-V7, androgen receptor full length (AR-FL), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in CRPC and KRAS wildtype (wt) and mutant (mut) transcripts in PaCa in CTCs from 46 patients.RESULTS: In situ analysis showed that 71% (22 of 31) of CRPC patients had detectable AR-V7 expression ranging from low to high expression [1-76 rolling circle products (RCPs)/CTC]. In PaCa patients, 40% (6 of 15) had KRAS mut expressing CTCs with 1 to 8 RCPs/CTC. In situ padlock probe analysis revealed CTCs with no detectable cytokeratin expression but positivity for AR-V7 or KRAS mut transcripts.CONCLUSIONS: Padlock probe technology enables quantification of AR-V7, AR-FL, PSA, and KRAS mut/wt transcripts in CTCs. The technology is easily applicable in routine laboratories and compatible with multiple CTC-isolation devices.
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| 4. |
- Geny, Sylvain, et al.
(author)
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Next-generation bis-locked nucleic acids with stacking linker and 2 '-glycylamino-LNA show enhanced DNA invasion into supercoiled duplexes
- 2016
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In: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 44:5, s. 2007-2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Targeting and invading double-stranded DNA with synthetic oligonucleotides under physiological conditions remain a challenge. Bis-locked nucleic acids (bisLNAs) are clamp-forming oligonucleotides able to invade into supercoiled DNA via combined Hoogsteen and Watson-Crick binding. To improve the bisLNA design, we investigated its mechanism of binding. Our results suggest that bisLNAs bind via Hoogsteen-arm first, followed by Watson-Crick arm invasion, initiated at the tail. Based on this proposed hybridization mechanism, we designed next-generation bisLNAs with a novel linker able to stack to adjacent nucleobases, a new strategy previously not applied for any type of clamp-constructs. Although the Hoogsteen-arm limits the invasion, upon incorporation of the stacking linker, bisLNA invasion is significantly more efficient than for non-clamp, or nucleotide-linker containing LNA-constructs. Further improvements were obtained by substituting LNA with 2'-glycylamino-LNA, contributing a positive charge. For regular bisLNAs a 14-nt tail significantly enhances invasion. However, when two stacking linkers were incorporated, tail-less bisLNAs were able to efficiently invade. Finally, successful targeting of plasmids inside bacteria clearly demonstrates that strand invasion can take place in a biologically relevant context.
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| 5. |
- Krzywkowski, Tomasz, et al.
(author)
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Chimeric padlock and iLock probes for increased efficiency of targeted RNA detection
- 2019
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In: RNA. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1355-8382 .- 1469-9001. ; 25:1, s. 82-89
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many approaches exist to detect RNA using complementary oligonucleotides. DNA ligation-based techniques can improve discrimination of subtle sequence variations, but they have been difficult to implement for direct RNA analysis due to the infidelity and inefficiency of most DNA ligases on RNA. In this report, we have systematically studied if ribonucleotide substitutions in padlock probes can provide higher catalytic efficiencies for Chlorella virus DNA ligase (PBCV-1DNA ligase) and T4 RNA ligase 2 (T4Rnl2) on RNA. We provide broad characterization of end-joining fidelity for both enzymes in RNA-templated 3'-OH RNA/5'-pDNA chimeric probe ligation. Both ligases showed increased ligation efficiency toward chimeric substrates on RNA. However, end-joining fidelity of PBCV-1 DNA ligase remained poor, while T4Rnl2 showed a somewhat better end-joining fidelity compared to PBCV-1 DNA ligase. The recently presented invader padlock (iLock) probes overcome the poor end-joining fidelity of PBCV-1 DNA ligase by the requirement of target-dependent 5' flap removal prior to ligation. Here we show that two particular ribonucleotide substitutions greatly improve the activation and ligation rate of chimeric iLock probes on RNA. We characterized the end-joining efficiency and fidelity of PBCV-1 DNA ligase and T4Rnl2 with chimeric iLock probes on RNA and found that both enzymes exhibit high ligation fidelities for single nucleotide poly-morphisms on RNA. Finally, we applied the chimeric probe concept to directly differentiate between human and mouse ACTB mRNA in situ, demonstrating chimeric padlock and iLock probes as superior to their DNA equivalents.
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| 6. |
- Krzywkowski, Tomasz, et al.
(author)
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Detection of miRNAs using chimeric DNA/RNA iLock probes utilizing novel activity of PBCV-1 DNA ligase : RNA-templated ligation of ssRNA
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Accurate detection of miRNAs with complementary probes is challenging due to the short target size, and often high sequence similarity between isoforms belonging to the same miRNA family. Ligation based methods can provide powerful discrimination of subtle sequence variation among target sequences, but they have been difficult to implement for direct RNA analysis due to the sloppiness and inefficiency of most DNA ligases on RNA substrates. In this work, we have studied if RNA substitutions in padlock probes can provide higher catalytic efficiencies for PBCV-1 DNA ligase on RNA substrates. We also characterise end-joining fidelity for Chlorella virus DNA ligase (PBCV DNA ligase 1) and T4RNA ligase 2 (T4Rnl2) in RNA-templated 3'-OH RNA/5’-pDNA chimeric probe ligation. Although we observed considerable ligation efficiency improvement towards short miRNA targets for PBCV-1 ligated chimeric probes, it showed no sequence specificity towards mismatches at the ligation junction. T4Rnl2 showed some base discrimination, but not satisfactory for robust RNA sequence analysis. To increase end-joining fidelity in PBCV-1 DNA ligase catalysed direct RNA detection assays (iLock probes), we have recently introduced an alternative ligation assay design in which ligation probes first undergo sequence- specific 5’ FLAP removal in order to create ligatable substrates. We have tested various chimeric iLock probe designs where RNA substitutions were introduced at different positions in the FLAP and at the ligation junction. We defined two particular nucleotide positions in the iLock probe sequence that when substituted with RNA, significantly increased iLock probe activation and ligation. We further characterized the end-joining fidelity of PBCV-1 and T4Rnl2 catalysed iLock reactions. Both enzymes showed high ligation fidelities for single nucleotide polymorphisms on RNA and miRNA. Finally, we demonstrate a multiplexed chimeric iLock probe miRNA profiling assay using sequencing-by-ligation as readout.
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| 7. |
- Krzywkowski, Tomasz, et al.
(author)
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Fidelity of RNA templated end-joining by chlorella virus DNA ligase and a novel iLock assay with improved direct RNA detection accuracy
- 2017
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In: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 45:18
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ligation-based nucleic acid detection methods are primarily limited to DNA, since they exhibit poor performance on RNA. This is attributed to reduced end-joining efficiency and/or fidelity of ligases. Interestingly, chlorella virus DNA ligase (PBCV-1 DNA ligase) has recently been shown to possess high RNA-templated DNA end-joining activity; however, its fidelity has not yet been systematically evaluated. Herein, we characterized PBCV-1 ligase for its RNA-templated end-joining fidelity at single base mismatches in 3′ and 5′ DNA probe termini and found an overall limited end-joining fidelity. To improve the specificity in PBCV-1 ligase-driven RNA detection assays, we utilized structure-specific 5′ exonucleolytic activity of Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase, used in the invader assay. In the iLock (invader padLock) probe assay, padlock probe molecules are activated prior ligation thus the base at the probe ligation junction is read twice in order to aid successful DNA ligation: first, during structure-specific invader cleavage and then during sequence-specific DNA ligation. We report two distinct iLock probe activation mechanisms and systematically evaluate the assay specificity, including single nucleotide polymorphisms on RNA, mRNA and miRNA. We show significant increase in PBCV-1 ligation fidelity in the iLock probe assay configuration for RNA detection.
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| 8. |
- Krzywkowski, Tomasz, 1986-
(author)
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iLocks: a novel tool for RNA assays with improved specificity
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The Central Dogma of molecular biology describes a framework for how genetic information is transferred in cells, placing RNA as a messenger between DNA and translated proteins. During the last years, interest in RNA research has grown tremendously due to the increasing understanding and recognition of the importance of RNA in regulation of gene expression, biochemical catalysis, and genome integrity surveillance. Most importantly, RNA content, unlike DNA, changes constantly, fine-tuning the cellular response to match the environmental conditions. There is a clear potential for RNA biomarkers, reflecting both the natural and pathological conditions in vivo.Various methods have been developed to study RNA, of which the most common tools and techniques are described in this thesis. Since many of these gold standard methods are based on detecting RNA derivative (cDNA), there is a wide scope for efficient alternative tools directly targeting RNA. In Paper I, the spatiotemporal expression of human adenovirus-5 mRNA in epithelial and blood cells infected with the virus has been studied. For this, padlock probes and rolling circle amplification (RCA) were used to visualize, quantify and analyse both viral and host cell cDNAs in different infection scenarios, at single cell level. In Paper II, direct RNA detection fidelity has been evaluated using padlock probes. A novel type of probe (iLock) that is activated on RNA via invasive cleavage mechanism, prior to RCA was developed in this approach. Using iLocks, a substantial improvement of direct RNA sensing fidelity has been observed. In Paper III, RNA modifications were introduced in otherwise DNA iLock probes to enhance the probes’ efficiency on miRNAs. Using chimeric iLock probes, multiplexed differentiation of conserved miRNA family members were performed with next- generation sequencing-by-ligation readout. Efficient replication of chimeric probes used in Paper III implies that the Phi29 DNA polymerase readily accepts RNA-containing circles as amplification substrates. In Paper IV, real-time RCA monitoring for measurement of amplification rates and analysis of amplification patterns of various RNA-containing circles was achieved. Moreover, the RCA products were sequenced as a proof for the reverse-transcriptase activity of the Phi29 DNA polymerase.This thesis effectively contributes to a better understanding of mechanisms influencing RNA detection with, but not limited to, padlock probes. It expands the available RNA analyses toolkit with novel strategies and solutions, which can be potentially adapted for RNA-focused research, in general and molecular diagnostics, in particular.
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| 9. |
- Krzywkowski, Tomasz, et al.
(author)
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Limited reverse transcriptase activity of phi29 DNA polymerase
- 2018
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In: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 46:7, s. 3625-3632
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Phi29 (Phi 29) DNA polymerase is an enzyme commonly used in DNA amplification methods such as rolling circle amplification (RCA) and multiple strand displacement amplification (MDA), as well as in DNA sequencing methods such as single molecule real time (SMRT) sequencing. Here, we report the ability of phi29 DNA polymerase to amplify RNA-containing circular substrates during RCA. We found that circular substrates with single RNA substitutions are amplified at a similar amplification rate as non-chimeric DNA substrates, and that consecutive RNA pyrimidines were generally preferred over purines. We observed RCA suppression with higher number of ribonucleotide substitutions, which was partially restored by interspacing RNA bases with DNA. We show that supplementing manganese ions as cofactor supports replication of RNAs during RCA. Sequencing of the RCA products demonstrated accurate base incorporation at the RNA base with both Mn2+ and Mg2+ as cofactors during replication, proving reverse transcriptase activity of the phi29 DNA polymerase. In summary, the ability of phi29 DNA polymerase to accept RNA-containing substrates broadens the spectrum of applications for phi29 DNA polymerase-mediated RCA. These include amplification of chimeric circular probes, such as padlock probes and molecular inversion probes.
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| 10. |
- Krzywkowski, Tomasz, et al.
(author)
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Reverse-transcriptase activity of Phi29 DNA polymerase
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- F29 (Phi29) DNA polymerase is an enzyme commonly used in DNA amplification methods such as rolling circle amplification (RCA) and multiple strand displacement amplification (MDA), as well as in DNA sequencing methods such as single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing. Here we report the ability of F29 DNA polymerase to amplify partially RNA-containing circular substrates during RCA. We found that circular substrates with single RNA substitutions support a similar amplification rate as pure DNA substrates. We observed that increasing the number of consecutive RNA substitutions in the circular templates suppress replication, and cannot be recovered by addition of M-MuLV reverse-transcriptase. In summary, this novel ability of F29 to accept RNA-containing substrates broadens the spectrum of applications for F29 mediated RCA. Applications include amplification of chimeric circular probes, such as padlock probes and molecular inversion probes.
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