FIGURE 5.

Effect of 2′-methoxyethyl substitutions in the antisense RNA on human Ago2 cleavage activity. A, denaturing PAGE of 40-nucleotide sense RNA digested with GST-Ago2 in the absence of antisense strand (none) and containing the antisense RNAs with 2′-methoxyethyl substitutions at various positions, counting from the 5′ terminus of the antisense RNA. The unmodified antisense RNA (0) corresponds to the 19-as RNA shown in Figs. 1–3. Arrow indicates the position of the human Ago2 cleavage site. B, sequences of the modified antisense RNAs containing the 2′-methoxyethyl substitutions at various positions (underlined).