Publications

Peer-Reviewed Research Publications

1. Ryan, C.A.; Rahman, M. M.; Kumar, V.; Rozners,* E. Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acid Controls Dynamic Conformations of RNA Bulges. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 10497–10504.
2. Richter, M.; Viel, J. A.; Kotikam, V.; Gajula, P. K.; Coyle, L.; Pal, C.; Rozners,* E. Amide Modifications in the Seed Region of the Guide Strand Improve the On-Target Specificity of Short Interfering RNA. ACS Chem. Biol. 2023, 18, 7-11.
3. Ryan, C.A.; Baskevics, V.; Katkevics, M.; Rozners,* E. Extended 2-Guanidyl Pyridine PNA Nucleobase for Triple-Helical Hoogsteen Recognition of Cytosine in Double Stranded RNA. Chem. Commun. 2022, 58, 7148-7151.
4. Viel, J. A.; Pal, C.; Rozners,* E. Optimization of Automated Synthesis of Amide-Linked RNA. ACS Omega 2022, 7, 20420–20427.
5. Kotikam, V.; Gajula, P. K.; Coyle, L.; Rozners,* E. Amide Internucleoside Linkages Are Well Tolerated in Protospacer Adjacent Motif-Distal Region of CRISPR RNAs. ACS Chem. Biol. 2022, 17, 509-512.
6. Brogyagin, N.; Kataoka, Y.; Kumpina, I.; McGee, D. W.; Rozners,* E. Cellular uptake of 2-aminopyridine-modified peptide nucleic acids conjugated with cell-penetrating peptides. Biopolymers 2022, 113, e23484.
7. Kumar, V.; Rozners,* E. Fluorobenzene Nucleobase Analogues for Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids. ChemBioChem 2022, 23, e202100560.
8. Zhang, X.; Kotikam, V.; Rozners, E.; Callahan,* B. P. Enzymatic Beacons for Specific Sensing of Dilute Nucleic Acid. ChemBioChem 2020, 23, e202100594.
9. Endoh, T.; Brodyagin, N.; Hnedzko, D.; Sugimoto,* N.: Rozners,* E. Triple-Helical Binding of Peptide Nucleic Acid Inhibits Maturation of Endogenous MicroRNA-197. ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 1147-1151.
10. Ryan, C. A.; Brodyagin, N.; Lok, J.; Rozners,* E. The 2‑Aminopyridine Nucleobase Improves Triple-Helical Recognition of RNA and DNA When Used Instead of Pseudoisocytosine in Peptide Nucleic Acid. Biochemistry 2021, 60, 1919-1925.
11. Brodyagin, N.; Kumpina, I.; Applegate, J.; Katkevics, M.; Rozners,* E. Pyridazine Nucleobase in Triplex-Forming PNA Improves Recognition of Cytosine Interruptions of Polypurine Tracts in RNA. ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 872-881.
12. Brodyagin, N.; Maryniak, A. L.; Kumpina, I.; Talbott, J. M.; Katkevics, M.; Rozners, E.; MacKay,* J. A. Extended Peptide Nucleic Acid Nucleobases Based on Isoorotic Acid for the Recognition of A-U Base Pairs in Double-Stranded RNA. Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 4332-4335.
13. Ryan, C. A.; Rozners,* E., Impact of Chirality and Position of Lysine Conjugation in Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids. ACS Omega 2020, 5, 28722–28729.
14. Kumar, V.; Brodyagin, N.; Rozners,* E. Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids with Extended Backbones. ChemBioChem 2020, 21, 3410-3416.
15. Kotikam,* V.; Viel, J. A.; Rozners,* E. Synthesis and Biological Activity of Short Interfering RNAs Having Several Consecutive Amide Internucleoside Linkages. Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 685-690.
16. Kumpina, I.; Brodyagin, N.; MacKay, J. A.; Kennedy, S. D.; Katkevics, M.; Rozners,* E. Synthesis and RNA binding properties of extended nucleobases for triplex-forming peptide nucleic acids. J. Org. Chem. 2019, 84, 13276−13298.
17. Kotikam, V.; Kennedy, S. D.; MacKay, J. A.; Rozners,* E. Synthetic, Structural, and RNA Binding Studies on 2-Aminopyridine-Modified Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids. Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 4367- 4372 (Very Important Paper & Featured on Cover Page).
18. Hardcastle, T., Novosjolova, I., Kotikam, V., Cheruiyot, S. K., Mutisya, D., Kennedy, S. D., Egli, M., Kelley, M. L., Smith, Anja van B., and Rozners,* E. A Single Amide Linkage in the Passenger Strand Suppresses Its Activity and Enhances Guide Strand Targeting of siRNAs. ACS Chem. Biol. 2018, 13, 533-536.
19. Novosjolova, I.; Kennedy, S. D.; Rozners,* E. 2-Methoxypyridine as a Thymidine Mimic in Watson-Crick Base Pairs of DNA and PNA: Synthesis, Thermal Stability, and NMR Structural Studies. ChemBioChem. 2017, 18, 2165-2170.
20. Kotikam,* V.; Rozners,* E. Concurrent Hydrogenation of Three Functional Groups Enables Synthesis of C3'-Homologated Nucleoside Amino Acids. Org. Lett. 2017, 19, 4122-4125.
21. Mutisya, D.; Hardcastle, T.; Cheruiyot, S. K.; Pallan, P. S.; Kennedy, S. D.; Egli, M.; Kelley, M. L.; van Brabant Smith, A.; Rozners,* E. Amide linkages mimic phosphates in RNA interactions with proteins and are well tolerated in the guide strand of short interfering RNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 2017, 45, 8142-8155.
22. Hnedzko,* D.; McGee, D. W.; Karamitas, Y. A.; Rozners,* E. Sequence-selective recognition of double-stranded RNA and enhanced cellular uptake of cationic nucleobase and backbone-modified peptide nucleic acids. RNA 2017, 23, 58-69.
23. Endoh, T.; Annoni, C.; Hnedzko, D.; Rozners, E.; Sugimoto,* N. Triplex-forming PNA modified with unnatural nucleobases: the role of protonation entropy in RNA binding. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 32002-32006.
24. Hnedzko, D.; McGee, D. W.; Rozners,* E. Synthesis and properties of peptide nucleic acid labeled at the N-terminus with HiLyte Fluor 488 fluorescent dye. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2016, 24, 4199-4205.
25. Cheruiyot, S. K.; Rozners,* E. Fluorescent 2-Aminopyridine Nucleobases for Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids. ChemBioChem 2016, 17, 1558-1562.
26. Anosova, I.; Kowal, E. A.; Sisco, N. J.; Sau, S.; Liao, J.-y.; Bala, S.; Rozners, E.; Egli, M.; Chaput, J. C.; Van Horn,* W. D. Structural Insights into Conformation Differences between DNA/TNA and RNA/TNA Chimeric Duplexes. ChemBioChem 2016, 17, 1705-1708.
27. Annoni, C.; Endoh, T.; Hnedzko, D.; Rozners, E. Sugimoto,* N. Triplex-forming peptide nucleic acid modified with 2-aminopyridine as a new tool for detection of A-to-I editing. Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 7935-7938.
28. Endoh, T.; Hnedzko, D.; Rozners, E.; Sugimoto,* N. Nucleobase-modified PNA suppresses translation by forming triple helix with a hairpin structure in mRNA in vitro and in cells. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 899-903 (Featured on Cover Page).
29. Tse, J.; Wang, Y.; Zengeya, T.; Rozners, E.; Tan-Wilson,* A. Peptide nucleic acid probe for protein affinity purification based on biotin-streptavidin interaction and PNA-strand hybridization. Anal. Biochem. 2015, 470, 34-40.
30. Mutisya, D.; Selvam, C.; Lunstad, B. D.; Pallan, P. S.; Haas, A.; Leake, D.; Egli,* M.; Rozners,* E. Amides Are Excellent Mimics of Phosphate Internucleoside Linkages and Are Well Tolerated in Short Interfering RNAs. Nucleic Acid Res. 2014, 42, 6542-6551.
31. Tanui, P., Kennedy, S.D., Lunstad, B.D., Haas, A., Leake, D. and Rozners,* E. Synthesis, biophysical studies and RNA interference activity of RNA having three consecutive amide linkages. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2014, 12, 1207-1210.
32. Zengeya,* T.; Gindin, A.; Rozners, E. Improvement of Sequence Selectivity in Triple Helical Recognition of RNA by Phenylalanine-Derived PNA. Artificial DNA: PNA & XNA 2013, 4, (3) 1-8 (Invited Manuscript).
33. Muse, O.; Zengeya, T.; Mwaura, J.; Hnedzko, D.; McGee, D. W.; Grewer, C. T.; Rozners,* E. Conjugation of Peptide Nucleic Acid with Cationic Peptide Enhances Recognition of Double Helical RNA at Physiologically Relevant Conditions. ACS Chem. Biol. 2013, 8, 1683-1686.
34. Walsh, J. M.; Ippoliti, P. J.; Ronayne, E. A.; Rozners, E.; Beuning,* P. J., Discrimination against major groove adducts by Y-family polymerases of the DinB subfamily. DNA Repair 2013, 12, 713-722.
35. Zengeya, T.; Gupta, P.; Rozners,* E. Triple Helical Recognition of RNA Using 2-Aminopyridine-Modified PNA at Physiologically Relevant Conditions. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 12593-12596 (Very Important Paper).
36. Patra, A.; Paolillo, M.; Charisse, K.; Manoharan, M.; Rozners,* E.; Egli,* M. 2'-Fluoro RNA Shows Increased Watson-Crick H-Bonding Strength and Stacking Relative to RNA: Evidence from NMR and Thermodynamic Data. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 11863-11866.
37. Walsh, J. M.; Parasuram, R.; Rajput, P. R.; Rozners, E.; Ondrechen, M. J.; Beuning,* P. J., Effects of non-catalytic, distal amino acid residues on activity of E. coli DinB (DNA polymerase IV). Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 2012, 53, 766-776.
38. Gupta, P.; Muse, O., Rozners,* E. Recognition of Double Stranded RNA by Guanidine-Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids (GPNA). Biochemistry, 2012, 51, 63-73.
39. Gupta, P.; Zengeya, T., Rozners,* E. Triple Helical Recognition of Pyrimidine Inversions in Polypurine Tracts of RNA by Nucleobase-modified PNA Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 11125-11127.
40. Mutisya, D.; Selvam, C.; Kennedy, S. D.; Rozners,* E. Synthesis and properties of triazole-linked RNA. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2011, 21, 3420-3422.
41. Pallan, P.S.; Greene, E. M.; Jicman, P. A.; Pandey, R. K.; Manoharan, M.; Rozners,* E.; Egli,* M. Unexpected origins of the enhanced pairing affinity of 2'-fluoro-modified RNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 2011, 39, 3482-3495.
42. Zengeya, T.; Li, M.; Rozners,* E. PNA containing isocytidine nucleobase: synthesis and recognition of double helical RNA. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2011, 21, 2121-2124.
43. Selvam, C.; Thomas, S.; Abbott, J.; Kennedy, S. D.; Rozners,* E. Amides Are Excellent Mimics of Phosphate Linkages in RNA Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2068-2070.
44. Manoharan,* M.; Akinc, A.; Pandey, R. K.; Qin, J.; Hadwiger, P.; John, M.; Mills, K.; Charisse, K.; Maier, M. A.; Nechev, L.; Greene, E. M.; Pallan, P. S.; Rozners, E.; Rajeev, K. G.; Egli,* M. Unique Gene-silencing and Structural Properties of 2'-F Modified siRNAs. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2284-2288 (Featured as a Hot Paper chosen by the Editors).
45. Li, M.; Zengeya, T.; Rozners,* E. Short Peptide Nucleic Acids Bind Strongly to Homopurine Tract of Double Helical RNA at pH 5.5. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 8676-8681.
46. Tanui, P.; Kullberg, M.; Song, N.; Chivate, Y.; Rozners,* E. Monomers for preparation of amide linked RNA: synthesis of C3'-homologated nucleoside amino acids from D-xylose. Tetrahedron 2010, 66, 4961-4964.
47. Kolarovic, A.; Schweizer, E.; Greene, E.; Gironda, M.; Pallan, P. S.; Egli, M.; Rozners,* E. Interplay of Structure, Hydration and Thermal Stability in Formacetal Modified Oligonucleotides: RNA May Tolerate Nonionic Modifications Better than DNA. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 14932-14937.
48. Li, F.; Pallan, P.; Maier, M.; Rajeev, K.; Mathieu, S.; Kreutz, C.; Fan, Y.; Sanghvi, J.; Micura, R.; Rozners, E.; Manoharan, M.; Egli,* M. Crystal structure, stability and in vitro RNAi activity of oligoribonucleotides containing the ribo-difluorotoluyl nucleotide: insights into substrate requirements by the human RISC Ago2 enzyme Nucleic Acids Res., 2007, 35, 6424-6438.
49. Donahue, C. P.; Ni, J.; Rozners, E.; Glicksman, M.; Wolfe,* M. S. Identification of Tau Stem Loop RNA Stabilizers. J. Biomol. Screen. 2007, 12, 789 - 799.
50. Rozners,* E.; Katkevica, D.; Strömberg, R. Oligoribonucleotide Analogues Having a Mixed Backbone of Phosphodiester and Formacetal Internucleoside Linkages with Vicinal 2'-O-Methyl Groups. ChemBioChem 2007, 8, 537-545 (Featured on Cover Page).
51. Xu, Q.; Katkevica, D.; Rozners,* E. Toward Amide Modified RNA: Synthesis of 3'-Aminomethyl-5'-Carboxy-3',5'-Dideoxy Nucleosides. J. Org. Chem. 2006, 71, 5906-5913.
52. Rozners,* E.; Smicius R.; Uchiyama, C. Expanding Functionality of RNA: Synthesis and Properties of RNA Containing Imidazole Modified Tandem G-U Wobble Base Pairs. Chem. Commun. 2005, 5778-5780.
53. Rozners,* E.; Liu, Y. Monomers for Preparation of Amide Linked RNA: Asymmetric Synthesis of All Four Nucleoside 5'-Azido 3'-Carboxylic Acids. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 9841-9848.
54. Xu, Q.; Rozners,* E. Asymmetric Synthesis of trans-3,4-Dialkyl-γ-butyrolactones via an Acyl-Claisen and Iodolactonization Route. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 2821-2824.
55. Rozners,* E.; Fontanez, J. Enantioselective Nozaki-Hiyama Allylations Using a Multidentate Amino Alcohol as a Chiral Ligand. Lett. Org. Chem. 2005, 2, 407-409.
56. Rozners,* E.; Moulder, J. Hydration of Short DNA, RNA, and 2'-OMe Oligonucleotides Determined By Osmotic Stressing. Nucleic Acids Res. 2004, 32, 248-254.
57. Rozners,* E.; Xu, Q. Total Synthesis of 3',5'-C Branched Nucleosides. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 3999-4001.
58. Rozners,* E.; Katkevica, D.; Bizdena, E.; Strömberg, R. Synthesis and Properties of RNA Analogs Having Amides as Interuridine Linkages at Selected Positions J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 12125-12136.
59. Rozners,* E.; Liu, Y. Toward Amide Linked RNA Mimics: Total Synthesis of 3'-C Branched Uridine Azido Acid via an Ene-Iodolactonization Approach. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 181-184.
60. Vedejs,* E.; Rozners, E. Parallel Kinetic Resolution Under Catalytic Conditions: A Three-Phase System Allows Selective Reagent Activation Using Two Catalysts. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 2428-2429.
61. Lindqvist, M.; Sarkar, M.; Winqvist, A.; Rozners, E.; Strömberg, R.; Gräslund,* A. Optical Spectroscopic Study of the Effects of a Single Deoxyribose Substitution in a Ribose Backbone: Implications in RNA-RNA Interaction. Biochemistry 2000, 39, 1693-1701.
62. Sarkar, M.; Dornberger, U.; Rozners, E.; Fritzsche, H.; Strömberg, R.; Gräslund,* A. FTIR Spectroscopic Studies of Oligonucleotides That Model a Triple-Helical Domain in Self-Splicing Group I Introns. Biochemistry 1997, 36, 15463-15471.
63. Rozners,* E.; Strömberg, R. Synthesis and Properties of Oligoribonucleotide Analogs Having Formacetal Internucleoside Linkages. J. Org. Chem. 1997, 62, 1846-1850.
64. Sarkar, M.; Sigurdsson, S.; Tomac, S.; Sen, S.; Rozners, E.; Sjöberg, B. M.; Strömberg, R.; Gräslund,* A. A Synthetic Model for Triple-Helical Domains in Self-Splicing Group I Introns Studied by Ultraviolet and Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy. Biochemistry 1996, 35, 4678-4688.
65. Rozners,* E.; Bizdena, E. Building Blocks for Synthesis of Oligoarabinonucleotides: Preparation of Arabinonucleoside H-Phosphonates from Protected Ribonucleosides. Nucleosides and Nucleotides 1995, 14, 2009-2025.
66. Rozners, E.; Westman, E.; Strömberg,* R. Evaluation of 2'-Hydroxyl Protection in RNA-Synthesis Using the H-Phosphonate Approach. Nucleic Acids Research 1994, 22, 94-99.
67. Rozners,* E.; Renhofa, R.; Petrova, M.; Popelis, Y.; Kumpins, V.; Bizdena, E. Synthesis of Oligoribonucleotides by the H Phosphonate Approach Using Base-Labile 2'-O-Protecting Groups. V. Recent Progress in Development of the Method. Nucleosides and Nucleotides 1992, 11, 1579-1593.
68. Rozners, E.; Renhof, R.; Cielens, I.; Kumpins, V.; Bizdena, E. Synthesis of Oligoribonucleotides by the H-Phosphonate Approach Using Base-Labile 2'-O-Protecting Groups. IV. A New Approach to Solve the Problem of Modification and Degradation of Oligoribonucleotides. Bioorg. Khim. 1992, 18, 263-271.
69. Rozners, E.; Rekis, A.; Bizdena, E. Synthesis of Oligoribonucleotides by the H-Phosphonate Approach Using Base-Labile 2'-O-Protective Groups. III. Studies on Kinetics of 2'-3'-Migration of Aroyl Groups. Bioorg. Khim. 1992, 18, 107-111.
70. Rozners, E.; Rekis, A.; Kumpins, V.; Bizdena, E. Synthesis of Oligoribonucleotides by the H-Phosphonate Method Using Base-Labile 2'-O-Protecting Groups. II. Some Aspects of Use of 2'-O-Benzoyl and Anisoyl Protecting Groups. Bioorg. Khim. 1990, 16, 1531-1536.
71. Rozners, E.; Kumpins, V.; Rekis, A.; Bizdena, E. Solid-Phase Synthesis of Oligoribonucleotides by the H-Phosphonate Method Using 2'-O-Benzoyl Protective Group. Bioorg. Khim. 1988, 14, 1580-1582.

Invited Contributions and Reviews

1. Rozners, E. Amides and Other Non-Ionic Backbone Modifications in RNA In Handbook of Chemical Biology of Nucleic Acids, Sugimoto, N. (Editor), Springer Nature, 2023, published online, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1313-5_76-1.
2. Rozners, E. Chemical Modifications of CRISPR RNAs to Improve Gene Editing Activity and Specificity. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 12584-12594 .
3. Brodyagin, N.; Katkevics, M.; Kotikam, V.; Ryan, C. A.; Rozners,* E. Chemical approaches to discover the full potential of peptide nucleic acids in biomedical applications. Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1641-1688.
4. Kotikam, V.; Rozners,* E. Amide-Modified RNA: Using Protein Backbone to Modulate Function of Short Interfering RNAs. Acc. Chem. Res. 2020, 53, 1782-1790.
5. Brodyagin, N.; Hnedzko, D.; MacKay, J. A.; Rozners*, E. Nucleobase-Modified Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids for Sequence-Specific Recognition of Double-Stranded RNA In Peptide Nucleic Acids. From Chemistry to Animals (Methods in Molecular Biology), Nielsen, P. E. (Editor), Springer Nature, 2020, vol. 2105, 157-172.
6. Hnedzko, D.; Rozners*, E. Sequence-Specific Recognition of Structured RNA by Triplex-Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids In Methods in Enzymology (RNA Recognition),, Hargrove, A. E. (Editor), Elsevier, 2019, vol. 623, 401-416.
7. Rozners, E. RNA Metabolism and Drug Design In Encyclopedia of Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Meyers, R. A. (Editor), Wiley, 2015, vol. 1, issue 3, 53-95.
8. Hnedzko, D.; Cheruiyot, S. K.; Rozners*, E. Using Triple Helix Forming Peptide Nucleic Acids for Sequence-selective Recognition of Double-stranded RNA Current Protocols in Nucleic Acid Chemistry, Chapter 4: Synthesis of Modified Oligonucleotides and Conjugates 2014, 4.60.1-4.60.23.
9. Rozners, E. Sequence Selective Recognition of Double-Stranded RNA In Chemical Biology of Nucleic Acids: Fundamentals and Clinical Applications, RNA Technologies. Erdmann, V.A.; Markiewicz W.T. and Barciszewski, J. (Editors), 2014, 167-180.
10. Zengeya, T.; Gupta, P.; Rozners*, E. Sequence Selective Recognition of Double Stranded RNA using Triple Helix-forming Peptide Nucleic Acids In Peptide Nucleic Acids: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology), Peter E Nielsen, P. E. and Appella, D. H. (Editors), 2014, 1050, 83-94.
11. Rozners, E. Recent Advances in Chemical Modification of Peptide Nucleic Acids Journal of Nucleic Acids, 2012, Article ID 518162, 8 pages, doi:10.1155/2012/518162 (Invited Review).
12. Rozners*, E. Determination of Nucleic Acid Hydration Using Osmotic Stress. Current Protocols in Nucleic Acid Chemistry, Chapter 7 Biophysical Analysis of Nucleic Acids. 2010, 7.14.1-7.14.13.
13. Rozners*, E. Carbohydrate Chemistry for RNA Interference: Synthesis and Properties of RNA Analogues Modified in Sugar-Phosphate Backbone. Curr. Org. Chem. 2006, 10, 675-692.
14. Rozners*, E. Modification of Nucleoside Heterocycles to Probe and Expand Nucleic Acid Structure and Function. Lett. Org. Chem. 2005, 2, 398-403 (Invited Highlight).
15. Vedejs*, E.; Daugulis, O.; MacKay, J. A.; Rozners, E. Enantioselective Acyl Transfer Using Chiral Phosphine Catalysts. Synlett 2001, 1499-1505.

Patent Applications

1. Rozners, E.; Zengeya, T. Compositions and methods for recognition of RNA using triple helical peptide nucleic acids U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. (2014), US 20140206838 A1 20140724.