Silencing transcription by methylation

Abstract

The invention provides methods and compositions related to oligonucleotides that silence target genes within a cell. The oligonucleotides include an oligonucleotide methylator segment that has a first strand and a second strand complementary to the first strand. The first strand can include at least one m5CG sequence which is paired with an unmethylated CG sequence on the second strand. Alternatively, the first strand can include at least one m5CNIG sequence paired with an unmethylated CN2G sequence on the second strand, wherein N1 is any nucleotide, and N2 is a nucleotide that pairs with N1. The oligonucleotides also include a single-stranded DNA binding segment that is complementary to a nucleotide sequence in the target gene. The DNA binding segment includes at least one m5CG sequence m5CG or at least one 5CN3G sequence, wherein N3 is any nucleotide. The methylator segment and DNA binding segment are operably linked such that the oligonucleotide is capable of inducing methylation at the target nucleotide sequence, thereby silencing the target gene.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.