Tissue pharmacokinetics of antisense oligonucleotides

Pharmacokinetics (PK) of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) is characterized by rapid distribution from plasma to tissue and slow terminal plasma elimination driven by re-distribution from tissue. Quantitative understanding of tissue PK and RNA knockdown for various ASO chemistries, conjugations, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids
Main Authors: Erica Bäckström, Alessandro Bonetti, Per Johnsson, Stefan Öhlin, Anders Dahlén, Patrik Andersson, Shalini Andersson, Peter Gennemark
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-03-01
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2162253124000209
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Summary:Pharmacokinetics (PK) of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) is characterized by rapid distribution from plasma to tissue and slow terminal plasma elimination driven by re-distribution from tissue. Quantitative understanding of tissue PK and RNA knockdown for various ASO chemistries, conjugations, and administration routes is critical for successful drug discovery. Here, we report concentration-time and RNA knockdown profiles for a gapmer ASO with locked nucleic acid ribose chemistry in mouse liver, kidney, heart, and lung after subcutaneous and intratracheal administration. Additionally, the same ASO with liver targeting conjugation (galactosamine-N-acetyl) is evaluated for subcutaneous administration. Data indicate that exposure and knockdown differ between tissues and strongly depend on administration route and conjugation. In a second study, we show that tissue PK is similar between the three different ribose chemistries locked nucleic acid, constrained ethyl and 2′-O-methoxyethyl, both after subcutaneous and intratracheal administration. Further, we show that the half-life in mouse liver may vary with ASO sequence. Finally, we report less than dose-proportional increase in liver concentration in the dose range of 3–30 μmol/kg. Overall, our studies contribute pivotal data to support design and interpretation of ASO in vivo studies, thereby increasing the probability of delivering novel ASO therapies to patients.
ISSN:2162-2531