1',5'-anhydrohexitol oligonucleotides: Synthesis, base pairing and recognition by regular oligodeoxyribonucleotides and oligoribonucleotides

Oligonucleotides constructed of 1',5'-anhydrohexitol nucleoside building blocks (hexitol nucleic acids, HNA) are completely stable towards 3'-exonuclease and form very stable self-complementary duplexes as well as sequence-selective stable duplexes with the natural DNA and RNA, Triple-helix formation has also been observed, These hybridisation characteristics are highly dependent on the base sequence and the experimental conditions, When using a phosphate buffer containing 0.1M NaCl, a homopurine HNA dodecamer gives a Delta T-m of +1.3 degrees C/ base pair with DNA as complement and a Delta T-m of +3.0 degrees C/base pair with RNA as complement, These oligomers may therefore be of considerable interest as antisense constructs.