Development of Protecting Groups for Prodrug-Type Oligonucleotide Medicines.
In recent years, nucleic acid-based drug therapeutics have gained considerable attention for their potential in the treatment of various diseases. However, their therapeutic value is greatly hindered by the challenge of delivering them into cells. One possible strategy to improve cellular uptake is the use of "prodrug-type oligonucleotide medicine" in which negatively charged phosphodiester moieties are masked by bio-labile protecting groups. In this review, we describe our recent studies related to bio-labile protecting groups for phosphodiester moieties in the development of prodrug-type oligonucleotide medicines.