Hoogsteen triplexes stabilized through ethynyl-linked pyrene-indole synthesized by high-temperature Sonogashira coupling

The low binding affinity of unmodified triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFO) is the main drawback to their promising utilization in gene therapy. In the present study, we have synthesized DNA intercalator 5-(pyren-1-ylethynyl)indole Y, known as twisted intercalating nucleic acid (TINA), by a Cu-mediated Sonogashira palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction of 1-ethynylpyrene with 5-iodoindole at a high temperature under anaerobic conditions. Coupling with indole C-5 was far more preferable in obtaining stable TINA-indole than enamine site C-3, as neither hydration of the triple bond to ketones nor competitive Glaser-type homocoupling of acetylenes was observed. The insertion of the new TINA monomer Y as a bulge in the middle or at the 5'-end of the oligodeoxynucleotide sequence via a flexible butane-1,2-diol linker showed extraordinary binding potential, resulting in excellent thermal stabilization of Hoogsteen-type triplex- and duplex-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structures which was detected by thermal denaturation studies and supported by circular dichroism (CD). Molecular dynamics AMBER* revealed the lowest energy conformation in which a pyrenyl residue of the TINA monomer Y stacks in the dsDNA part, while an indolyl unit intercalates between the nucleobases of the TFO pattern. Overall the torsionally rigid conjugated TINA system with a decent twisting of 15.1 degrees around acetylene is confirmed here as a requirement for the best fit inside the intercalation site of the triplex, resulting in high TFO-dsDNA affinity.