Synthesis of C-5, C-2' and C-4'-neomycin-conjugated triplex forming oligonucleotides and their affinity to DNA-duplexes.

Neomycin-conjugated homopyrimidine oligo 2'-deoxyribonucleotides have been synthesized on a solid phase and their potential as triplex forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) with DNA-duplexes has been studied. For the synthesis of the conjugates, C-5, C-2' and C-4'-tethered alkyne-modified nucleoside derivatives were used as an integral part of the standard automated oligonucleotide chain elongation. An azide-derived neomycin was then conjugated to the incorporated terminal alkynes by Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (the click chemistry). Concentrated ammonia released the desired conjugates in acceptable purity and yields. The site of conjugation was expectedly important for the Hoogsteen-face recognition: C-5-conjugation showed a notable positive effect, whereas the influence of the C-2' and C-4'-modification remained marginal. In addition to conventional characterization methods (UV- and CD-spectroscopy), (19)F NMR spectroscopy was applied for the monitoring of triplex/duplex/single strand-conversions.