Oligonucleotides chemical modification

Krahmer, M. T. Johnson, Y. A. Walters, J. J. Fox, K. F. Fox, A. Nagpal, M. Electrospray quadrupole mass spectrometry analysis of model oligonucleotides and polymerase chain reaction products determination of base substitutions, nucleotide additions/deletions, and chemical modifications. Anal. Chem. 1999, 71, 2893-2900. 

Behlke MA (2008) Chemical modification of siRNAs for in vivo use. Oligonucleotides 18 305-319... 

The following sections describe the major enzymatic and chemical modification procedures used to label nucleic acids and oligonucleotides. 

The chemical modification of nucleic acids at specific sites within individual nucleotides or within oligonucleotides allows various labels to be incorporated into DNA or RNA probes. This labeling process can produce conjugates having sensitive detection properties for the localization or quantification of oligo binding to a complementary strand using hybridization assays. 

Chemical modification also may be used to label directly an oligonucleotide, eliminating the enzymatic step altogether. The chemical modification of nucleic acids can encompass several... 

Many of the chemical derivatization methods employed in these strategies involve the use of an activation step that produces a reactive intermediary. The activated species then can be used to couple a molecule containing a nucleophile, such as a primary amine or a thiol group. The following sections describe the chemical modification methods suitable for derivatizing individual nucleic acids as well as oligonucleotide polymers. 

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