Deoxyoligonucleotides

Deoxyoligonucleotides

An oligonucleotide (or oligo) is a short segment of RNA or DNA, typically with twenty or fewer bases. Although they can be formed by cleavage of longer segments, they are now more commonly synthesized by polymerizing individual nucleotide precursors. Bio-Synthesis provides oligonucleotide synthesis up to 250 bases.

DNA Micro Array

One subtype of DNA micro arrays can be described as substrates (nylon, glass, etc.) to which oligonucleotides have been bound at high density. Currently there exist three applications of DNA micro arrays: polymorphism studies, gene expression studies, and tracking down certain diseases.

Oligonucleotide Synthesis

Oligonucleotides are chemically synthesized using nucleotides, called phosphoramidites, normal nucleotides that have protection groups: preventing amine, hydroxyl groups and phosphate groups interacting incorrectly. One phosphoramidite is added at the time, the product's 5' phosphate is deprotected, and a new base is added, and so on (backwards); at the end, all the protection groups are removed.

Antisense Oligonucleotides

Antisense oligonucleotides are single strands of DNA or RNA that are complementary to a chosen sequence. In the case of antisense RNA they prevent protein translation of certain messenger RNA strands by binding to them. Antisense DNA can be used to target a specific, complementary (coding or non-coding) RNA. If binding takes places this DNA/RNA hybrid can be degraded by the enzyme RNase H.