@article { ISI:000355317200045,
	title = {Selective inhibition of miR-21 by phage display screened peptide},
	journal = {Nucleic Acids Research},
	volume = {43},
	number = {8},
	year = {2015},
	month = {APR},
	pages = {4342-4352},
	publisher = {OXFORD UNIV PRESS},
	address = {GREAT CLARENDON ST, OXFORD OX2 6DP, ENGLAND},
	abstract = {<p>miRNAs are nodal regulators of gene expression and deregulation of miRNAs is causally associated with different diseases, including cancer. Modulation of miRNA expression is thus of therapeutic importance. Small molecules are currently being explored for their potential to downregulate miRNAs. Peptides have shown to have better potency and selectivity toward their targets but their potential in targeting and modulating miRNAs remain unexplored. Herein, using phage display we found a very selective peptide against pre-miR-21. Interestingly, the peptide has the potential to downregulate miR-21, by binding to pre-miR-21 and hindering Dicer processing. It is selective towards miR-21 inside the cell. By antagonising miR-21 function, the peptide is able to increase the expression of its target proteins and thereby increase apoptosis and suppress cell proliferation, invasion and migration. This peptide can further be explored for its anti-cancer activity in vivo and may be even extended to clinical studies.</p>},
	issn = {0305-1048},
	doi = {10.1093/nar/gkv185},
	author = {Bose, Debojit and Nahar, Smita and Rai, Manish Kumar and Ray, Arjun and Chakraborty, Kausik and Maiti, Souvik}
}
@article {43406,
	title = {Systematic evaluation of biophysical and functional characteristics of selenomethylene-locked nucleic acid-mediated inhibition of miR-21},
	journal = {Biochemistry},
	volume = {55},
	year = {2016},
	month = {DEC},
	pages = {7023-7032},
	abstract = {miRNAs constitute an important layer of gene regulation mediated by sequence-specific targeting of mRNAs. Aberrant expression of miRNAs contributes to a host of pathological states. Promoting cancer, miR-21 is upregulated in variety of cancers and promotes tumor progresion by suppressing a network of tumor suppressor genes. Here we describe a novel class of bicyclic RNA analogues, selenomethylene-locked nucleic acid (SeLNA), that display high affinity, improved metabolic stability, and increased potency for miR-21 inhibition. The thermal stability (T-m) for duplexes was increased significantly with incorporation of SeLNA monomers as compared to that of the unmodified DNA RNA hybrid. A comprehensive thermodynamic profile obtained by isothermal titration calorimetry revealed a favorable increase in the enthalpy of hybridization for SeLNA containing DNA and target RNA heteroduplexes. SeLNA modifications displayed remarkable binding affinity for miR-21 target RNA with a K-a of <= 1.05 x 10(8) M-1. We also observed enhanced serum stability for SeLNA RNA duplexes with a half-life of <= 36 h. These in vitro results were well correlated with the antisense activity in cancer cells imparting up to similar to 91\% inhibition of miR-21. The functional impact of SeLNA modifications on miR-21 inhibition was further gauged by investigating the migration and invasion characterisitics of cancer cells, which were drastically reduced to similar to 49 and similar to 55\%, respectively, with SeLNA having four such modifications. Our findings demonstrate SeLNA as a promising candidate for therapeutics for disease associated miRNAs.},
	doi = {10.1021/acs.biochem.6b00895},
	author = {Nahar, Smita and Singh, Amrita and Morihiro, Kunihiko and Moai, Yoshihiro and Kodama, Tetsuya and Obika, Satoshi and Maiti, Souvik}
}
