Morassutti C, Dapas B, Scaggiante B, Paroni G, Xodo L, Quadrifoglio F
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Technologies, University of Udine, Italy.
Nucleosides Nucleotides. 1999 Jun-Jul;18(6-7):1711-6. doi: 10.1080/07328319908044830.
We have identified phosphodiester oligonucleotides composed of G and T bases, named GTn, which are able to inhibit the cellular growth of human cancer cell lines by recognising specific nuclear proteins. We demonstrated that GTn oligonucleotides require a length of at least 20 nucleotides in order to exert a significant cytotoxic effect and to retain the specific protein binding ability. In addition, we found that GTn cytotoxicity was lost when A or C bases were introduced at either 3' and 5' end or within the GTn sequences.
