Antisense oligonucleotides inhibiting ribosomal functions in mycobacteria

We studied the binding of antisense oligonucleotides with 23S rRNA of mycobacteria and E. coli and identified oligonucleotides with selective affinity to the α-sarcin loop region of 23S rRNA of M. tuberculosis and to 70S ribosomes of M. smegmatis. These oligonucleotides proved to selectively inhibit protein synthesis on M. smegmatis ribosomes.