Antisense Oligonucleotides: Versatile Tools with Broad Applications
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 13
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO or AO) is a versatile tool that has been widely used as a research tool in the discovery and validation of disease-related genes as well as a therapeutic entity targeting the genes. ASOs are characterized by diversified mechanisms of actions, including occupancy-mediated degradation (RNase H-dependent RNA degradation) and occupancy-only mechanisms such as splice switching and steric blocking. Due to the diversity of mechanisms of actions, ASOs are capable of either reducing the expression of a target gene, or restoring the expression of a defective gene, leading to a broad application of ASO technology. In fact, more than ten ASO drugs have been approved by the US FDA for the therapy of several human diseases. Among these commercialized ASOs, both the RNase H-dependent mechanism and splice modulation (exon skipping and exon inclusion) have been applied. In addition to modulating gene expression in mammalian cells, ASOs have also been studied as antibacterial agents. Due to its universality, ASOs could also be developed as pesticides, fungicides, and nematicides that contribute to plant protection.
This Special Issue is initiated to promote the advancements of the ASO field in all aspects of therapeutic or pesticide developments and chemical optimization, and it provides an opportunity to share your quality work in the form of authentic research and review articles.
Dr. Suxiang Chen
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- antisense oligonucleotide
- RNase H
- splice switching
- exon skipping
- therapeutics
- pesticide
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