Patent Application: US-42374299-A

Abstract:
a method of preparing an immobilized oligonucleotide having a free 3 ′- end comprises the steps of : i ) preparing an oligonucleotide attached in a first position to a solid support via its 3 ′- end and having a free 5 ′- end ; ii ) binding said oligonucleotide in a second position remote from the 3 ′- end to the solid support ; and iii ) selectively releasing the 3 ′- end of the oligonucleotide from the solid support to obtain the oligonucleotide attached to the support in said second position in a reversed orientation with a free 3 ′- end .

Description:
the present invention thus provides a method for reversing the orientation of oligonucleotides synthesized in situ on a solid support . method variants are schematically illustrated in fig1 to 3 . an important characteristic of the method is that truncated sequences and shorter fragments resulting from acidic depurination can also be avoided in the final product . the method usually comprises the following steps : 1 ) synthesis of oligonucleotides in the usual 3 ′ to 5 ′ direction , anchoring the oligonucleotides to the solid phase via the 3 ′- hydroxyl and with the 5 ′- end projecting into solution ; 2 ) reacting a group placed between the support and the 3 ′- end , or placed at a separate site on the support , with another reactive function present in the oligonucleotide or at its 5 ′- end , to form a structure in which oligonucleotides are bound to the support via at least two covalent bonds ; 4 ) final deprotection , yielding oligonucleotides bound to the solid - phase via a position other than the 3 ′- end . reversion of oligonucleotide orientation can be done in two principally different ways : a ) performing the inversion process while the rest of the oligonucleotide is kept fully protected , and with the order of reactions as presented above ; that is deprotection following release of the 3 ′- end . in both methods all truncated sequences are removed , however , in general only method ( b ) offers the possibility to simultaneously remove depurinated oligonucleotides . exceptions from these rules will be presented in a further part of the text in conjunction with the listed examples . the water - free chemistry required for inversions according to method ( a ) differs in some ways from the aqueous chemistry necessary in method ( b ), nevertheless , the structure of an oligonucleotide to be inversed can be presented , dependent on localization of the function r , by one of the following two formulas : all structural elements listed in these general formulas are linked via covalent bonds . some of these bonds will be cleaved in the process of oligonucleotide inversion . a wide range of non - porous as well as porous solid supports can be used in the methods according to the present invention . the group of preferred supports includes organic as well as inorganic materials and comprises polystyrenes , cross - linked polystyrenes , polypropylene , polyethylene , teflon , polysaccharides , cross - linked polysaccharides , silica , and various glasses . in certain cases supports are not fully compatible with some aspects of the chemistry used for oligonucleotide synthesis , their inversion or for deprotection . in particular , strong alkaline conditions at high temperature frequently used for deprotection of synthetic oligonucleotides or fluoride anion , as in tetrabutylammonium fluoride used for cleavage of silyl functions , cannot be applied on silica or glass supports as these reagents substantially degrade both of these supports . the term oligonucleotide means a linear composition of ribo -, deoxyribonucleosides or modifications thereof , connected to each other by phosphodiester or phosphotriester bonds . presenting the oligonucleotide 1 and oligonucleotide 2 in the lower formula above as two units , separated by a function ( s ) r , is simply a convenient way of describing the possibility of oligonucleotide reorientation with a new point of attachment that may be located other than at the 5 ′- end . if function ( s ) r is located at the 5 ′- end of the synthesized oligonucleotide , then there is no oligonucleotide 2 . although , functions r and r 1 may denote a reactive function as such , they usually mean a unit linked to the rest of the molecule and containing a function necessary for interaction . during the course of oligonucleotide inversion , functions r and r 1 have to react with each other to form a covalent bond as illustrated in fig1 . reactivity is therefore the main criterion describing their character , and in consequence , their relative position and chemical properties can be interchangeable . the probability for a particular reaction depends on reagent concentration . an intramolecular process of oligonucleotide inversion should therefore be more efficient , due to the higher local concentration of reagents , compared to a more common process of oligonucleotide immobilization . if desirable , the concentrations of both r and r 1 functions may be further increased by incorporating several of these functions in a row or in a branched form . numbers k , m and n denote multiplicity of the above functions . m is within the interval from 1 to 20 , and n and k are each within the interval from 0 to 20 . multiple reactive functions increase the probability of inversion . solid phase oligonucleotide synthesis usually produces material of high surface density . oligonucleotide arrays characterized by such a high density of probes often show a seriously diminished tendency to interact with complementary sequences . it may therefore be advantageous to decrease this density in order to improve the final hybridization test . this can be done by limiting the number of reactive sites directly on the support , or by limiting the number of reactive sites on a linking function constructed on the support . the latter can be easily accomplished by coupling two different reagents added in a suitable proportion . in this case one of the above reagents will introduce a protected reactive group , thus preventing synthesis of an oligonucleotide at this particular site , while the other reagent will introduce the cleavable function c which does permit growth of an oligonucleotide ( fig2 ). this procedure provides not only the desired limitation of oligonucleotide density but it also results in a multiplicity of reactive sites useful for subsequent oligonucleotide inversion . the required reactivity is often accomplished by using a pair of appropriate electrophile and nucleophile in place of r and r 1 , although other less frequently used interactions e . g . photochemical reactions ( 3 ), electrochemical reactions , free radical reactions ( 4 ) or metal ion chelate formation ( 5 ) are also possible . reactive functions r and r 1 do not have to be present on the synthesized oligonucleotide at all times . these functions can be activated just prior to oligonucleotide inversion by selective deprotection , by activation of appropriate unreactive functions with activating reagents ( coupling reagents ), or by derivatisation of a prefunctionalyzed oligonucleotide to form a pair of reactive functionalities . the nucleophile among r or r 1 can be selected from the following functions : 1 ) a hydroxyl group — directly as in oligonucleotide 5 ′- hydroxyl or attached to the oligonucleotide 5 ′- end through a linker derived from a diol ( 6 ) or a polyol ( 7 ). reagents are known that allow introduction and selective deprotection of a protected hydroxyl group ( or their multiplicity ) at any position of the synthetic oligonucleotide ( 8 ). 2 ) an amine group can be situated at the 5 ′- end of an oligonucleotide using conventional chemistry . also reagents for 5 ′- end attachment of a linker arm terminating in an amine are commercially available . if an acid labile protecting group is used for protection of the amino group , then synthesis of a fully deprotected oligonucleotide , with a protected amine group is possible . as for the hydroxyl group , a long range of reagents are known that can be used for introduction of an amine group at a preselected position within the oligonucleotide ( 9 ), ( 8 ). 3 ) a thiol group can be introduced at the 5 ′- position of an oligonucleotide using known reagents ( 10 ), however , deprotection requires strong electrophiles or reducing agents ( usually an excess of another thiol ) that interacts with functions necessary for the intended oligonucleotide inversion . to avoid these problems , a new type of reagents was developed , indicated by numeral 1 in fig4 in which a thiol function is protected by an acid labile protecting group ( kwiatkowski — unpublished results ). the mild acidic conditions applied for the deprotection of the thiol group do not influence most thiol - reactive functions . 4 ) hydrazine , hydrazide , semicarbazides , carbohydrazides and hydroxylamine functions can be used as powerful nucleophiles ( 11 ). reagents introducing these functions into an oligonucleotide can easily be prepared starting from described compounds ( 12 ). if necessary , an acyl function , usually used for the protection of the hydroxylamine , hydrazine or hydrazide groups , can be easily substituted by an acid labile function , as it was done with the chemically similar amine group above . the frequently used nucleophiles mentioned above and any other , easily recognised to those who are skilled in the art , can form stable bonds after reacting with selected electrophiles . the most preferred function to react with an amine function is a carboxyl group activated in situ by a suitable carbodiimide or another coupling reagent ( 13 ). other means of carboxyl group activation is the formation of mixed anhydrides or active esters . in a similar process a phosphomonoester can be activated by a carbodiimide to form an active imidazole - derivative that undergoes reaction with the amine present in the system ( 14 ). yet another preferred amine - reactive function , capable to react with an amine group , is an aldehyde group . this function can be introduced by several means as it can be exemplified by periodate oxidation of a cis - diol system ( often a ribonucleotide component attached to deoxyribo - oligonucleotide ), or by reacting a nhs - ester of 4 - carboxy benzaldehyde with an appropriately situated amino function . aldehyde function reacts with a reactive amino group to form unstable imine , subsequently stabilized by a reducing agent to form a stable secondary amine ( 15 ). the carbonyl group present in an aldehyde is also a reagent of choice for reaction with hydrazine or hydroxylamine function . reactions of these functions with aldehydes produce , contrary to amines , relatively stable hydrazones and oxazones which can be even further stabilized by their reduction . the thiol reactive group may be an activated disulfide , a maleimide , or an active halogen . the active halogens are typically α - haloacyls . useful halogens include fluorine , chlorine , bromine and iodine , with iodine and bromine being preferred . reagents useful for this invention can be obtained commercially ( 16 ). a most preferred function for reaction with a hydroxyl group is a phosphodiester , a h - phosphonate or a phosphomonoester . a phosphodiester function can be easily introduced at the 5 ′- end by means of several phosphorylating reagents like 2 - chlorophenylphosphoro - bistriazolide , etc . attachment of a phosphodiester function to the 3 ′- end of an oligonucleotide can be done by a standard phosphoroamidite coupling followed by basic elimination of an alkene ( usually acrylonitrile ) in order to convert a phosphotriester function to a phosphodiester . the selective conversion of a particular phosphotriester to a phosphodiester in the presence of other phosphotriesters is also possible if said phosphate is protected using groups removable in other than basic conditions . examples are photolabile functions ( 17 ) and functions removable by metal ( palladium ) catalysis ( 18 ). in the even simpler alternative , all oligonucleotide phosphotriester bonds , with the exception of the phosphotriester to be converted to the phosphodiester are prepared as a non base - labile methyl derivative ( 19 ). water - free conditions and a suitable activating reagent are a prerequisite for reaction of phosphodiester or phosphomonoester group with a hydroxyl . several efficient activating reagents ( coupling reagents ) are known to those who are skilled in art ( 20 ), the most preferred ones being mesitylenesulfonyl nitrotriazole ( msnt ) and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ( dcc ). the successful coupling of an oligonucleotide hydroxyl group to a phosphodiester function results in the formation of a new phosphotriester bond . however , usual phosphodiesters present in an oligonucleotide chain are lacking the possibility of selective hydrolysis after reaction with an oligonucleotide hydroxyl group and conversion to phosphodiesters . this results in a random cleavage with formation of three different phosphodiesters . to avoid this problem it is necessary to introduce a function b which is preferentially cleavable . such groups are known and most of them belong to the category of substituted aryl esters or functions cleavable in a base - catalyzed β - elimination process ( 21 ). it is also possible to envisage functionalities removable by reduction ( 22 ) or in a photochemical process . the most suitable groups to be used as b are substituted forms of : 2 - chlorophenyl , 2 , 4 - dichlorophenyl , 2 - nitrophenyl , 4 - nitrophenyl , 4 - nitrophenylethyl and 2 - cyanoethyl . function c plays a central role in the present strategy . in a methodology for oligonucleotide inversion performed after oligonucleotide deprotection , function c is designed to withstand all the steps of synthesis and the basic conditions used for oligonucleotide deprotection , yet being succeptible to selective cleavage after inversion under conditions that are not harmful for the rest of the molecule . it is of primary importance in the present strategy that cleavage of a function c results in the liberation of a free 3 ′- hydroxyl group . in view of advantages offered by oligonucleotide inversion regarding purity of the final material , it would also be beneficial to use even other types of functions c , leading to formation of functionalities other than 3 ′- hydroxyl groups . a tetrasubstituted disyloxyl group , removable by fluoride anions , has been presented as a group fulfilling these criteria ( 23 ). other preferred functions are disubstituted siloxyl removable by fluoride anion ( 24 ), photolabile groups exemplified by substituted 2 - nitrophenyl benzyl ethers ( 25 ), groups removable under redox conditions exemplified by substituted benzyl ethers ( 26 ) or functions removable by metal - ion catalysis ( 27 ). one additional possibility for a group applicable as a c - component is a substituted cis - diol system , exemplified by a specially designed ribonucleotide unit . in this approach , one of the cis - diol hydroxyls is linked to the 3 ′- end of an oligonucleotide via a phosphodiester or phosphotriester bond and the other hydroxyl is substituted by any of the above listed hydrolytically stable functions . the final removal of the above function will result in disruption of the phosphodiester bond to generate a free 3 ′- hydroxyl group . all of these cleavable functions can also be used in a methodology for inversion of fully protected oligonucleotides . however , here the demands on the cleavable function are not so strict , since the formation of the new bond between oligonucleotide and a solid phase precede deprotection and cleavage of the linkage . in consequence , a standard ester linkage , cleavable in aqueous ammonia , can be used as function c . an example of a reagent suitable for introduction of an ester function inside an oligonucleotide chain is shown at 2 on fig4 . if the discussed function r is not located at an oligonucleotide 5 ′- end , but rather inside its chain , for instance in the middle of its length , then the inverted product will have both 3 ′- and 5 ′- ends free . such a localized oligonucleotide can be used as a circularizable , ligation - based probe ( padlock probe ) ( 28 ) if its 5 ′- end is substituted with a phosphate group . therefore , function s present at the 5 ′- end of the oligonucleotide ( fig3 ) represents a phosphate , a protected phosphate , or any other oligonucleotide 5 ′- hydroxyl protecting group . contrary to the oligonucleotide inversion presented in fig1 the process leading to formation of immobilized padlock probes ( fig3 ) does not remove all truncated sequences . however , with proper protection of the 5 ′- end by group s , it is possible to selectively remove all shorter , and therefore unprotected fragments by enzymatic digestion ( 29 ). group a has the role of anchoring the rest of the molecule to the solid support . group l is a linker , connecting the support with rest of the oligonucleotide . the only requirement on both groups is to be chemically resistant to conditions applied during oligonucleotide synthesis , inversion and deprotection . chemical resistance means that all the above components are stable with respect to the chain breakage . the most preferred group a is an amide , a phosphodiester , a phosphotriester or an ether . the linking function l may comprise from none to several elements linked together . these elements may be constituted of nucleotides , but other non - nucleotidic elements are also allowed . an example of a non - nucleotidic element used for construction of linker l is a properly protected diol - phosphoramidite , like oligoethylene glycols ( 6 ). yet another possible function of linker l is a multiplication of starting points for oligonucleotide synthesis . this will , in consequence , result in increased density of a final inverted product . to achieve it , a reagent generating a dendrimeric structure is applicable . several of such a compounds are known , and preferred reagents for this purpose are branching , disubstituted phosphoramidites ( 7 ). the following examples further illustrate the invention and are not to be construed as limiting of the specification and claims in any way . a ) synthesis of phosphoramidite 2 ( fig4 ) to be used as an equivalent of r 1 - b unit a suspension of sodium borohydride ( 1 . 25 g , 32 mmol ) in dry thf was added during a period of 10 min to a solution of 3 - chloro - 4 - hydroxyphenylacetic acid ( 3 . 0 g , 15 . 9 mmol ) in dry thf ( 50 ml ). the mixture was stirred for additional 15 min and a solution of trimethylsilyl chloride ( 6 . 9 g , 63 . 6 mmol ) in thf ( 30 ml ) was added dropwise during a period of 30 min . the mixture was stirred for 3 hr , quenched with water ( 20 ml ), acidified with conc . hcl , partitioned between chloroform and water and extracted with chloroform ( 3 × 150 ml ). the combined extracts were evaporated in vacuo and dried by coevaporation with toluene . tlc analysis showed presence of an essentially pure compound ( 2 . 55 g , 92 %) having the expected nmr ( cdcl 3 ) characteristics . this crude material ( 1 . 40 g , 8 . 1 mmol ) was coevaporated with dry pyridine ( 20 ml ), dissolved in pyridine ( 50 ml ) and dimethoxytritylchloride ( 3 . 1 g , 9 . 0 mmol ) was added . stirring was continued at room temperature for 5 hr . the mixture was partitioned between saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate and chloroform , extracted with chloroform ( 3 × 100 ml ) and the organic extracts were evaporated . the partially protected 1 - dimethoxytrityloxy - 2 -( 3 - chloro - 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) ethane was isolated after flush chromatography on silica gel 60 ( merck ) and using 2 % ethanol in chloroform for the elution . combined fractions containing the pure product ( 2 . 85 g , 74 %) were evaporated and coevaporated with toluene . the above material ( 2 . 39 g , 5 . 0 mmol ) was dissolved in anhydrous dichlormethane ( 30 ml ) and dry triethylamine ( 1 . 52 g , 2 . 10 ml , 15 mmol ), followed by 2 - cyanoethyl - n , n - diisopropylaminophosphochloridate ( 1 . 78 g , 7 . 55 mmol ) were added . after 15 min stirring at room temperature , the reaction mixture was quickly partitioned between saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate and dichlormethane and extracted with dichlormethane ( 2 × 50 ml ). the residue obtained after evaporation of the organic phase was dried by coevaporation with toluene and purified on a short silica gel column , prepared and eluted with hexane : dichlormethane : triethylamine 45 : 45 : 10 . fractions containing the desired product 2 ( fig4 ) were combined , evaporated and coevaporated with dry acetonitrile to yield an oil ( 2 . 75 g , 84 %) having the expected 31 p - nmr characteristics and purity . a spherical ( 50 - 70 μm ) polystyrene support , derivatized with aminomethyl groups ( abi , 22 mmol / g , 10 mg , 0 . 2 μmol ) was placed in a cassette and subjected to two consecutive couplings of compound 2 ( fig4 ) on a gene assembler plus ( pharmacia biotech ab ). the coupling time was increased to 6 min , followed by a prolonged capping time ( 3 min ) and standard iodine oxidation . under these conditions a coupling yield of over 98 % was regularly achieved . the support was treated on the machine by triethylamine : acetonitrile 1 : 1 for 1 hr to convert phosphoramide diester and phosphotriester bonds to the phosphoramide monoester and phosphodiester , respectively . next , a coupling of reagent 3 ( fig4 ) was performed to introduce a fluoride anion - labile disyloxyl linkage and a starting thymidine unit ( fig5 ). this was followed by the addition of 14 thymidines to form a pentadecathymidylic acid ( t 15 ), and removal of the 5 ′- end trityl group . the cassette was opened , the derivatized support was transferred to an eppendorf tube and washed with dry pyridine . msnt ( 1 . 5 mg , 10 μmol ) in pyridine ( 200 μl ) was added . the reaction proceeded at room temperature for 3 hr with occasional shaking . after centrifugation , the liquid phase was removed and the support was washed with acetonitrile ( 3 × 1 . 0 ml ). d ) oligonucleotide deprotection and release of the free 3 ′- hydroxyl ( fig6 ) the washed support was treated with tetrabutylammonium fluoride ( tbaf ) ( 0 . 5 m , 200 μl ) for 2 hr at room temperature . although tbaf is sufficient to cleave the disiloxyl bridge , 2 - chlorophenyl ester bond and 2 - cyanoethyl phosphotriester bonds , the support was further treated with conc . aqueous ammonia to resemble standard oligonucleotide deprotection conditions . additionally , a treatment with 4 - nitrobenzaloxime and tetramethylguanidine may be introduced prior to fluoride treatment to reverse possible side - reactions caused by msnt . the mixed liquid phase after fluoride / ammonia treatment was isolated and the solid support was washed with water ( 3 × 0 . 5 ml ). the combined extracts were evaporated , desalted on a nap 10 column ( pharmacia biotech ab ) and analyzed on a hplc system ( hitachi merck la chrom ), using a lichrospher rp 18 ( 5 mm ) ( merck ) and linear gradient of solvent a : acetonitrile 5 % v / v in triethylammonium acetate 0 . 1 m ( ph 7 ) and solvent b : acetonitrile 40 % v / v in triethylammonium acetate 0 . 1 m ( ph 7 ). this analysis revealed the presence of cleaved , non - inverted oligonucleotides accompanied by a side - product - 5 ′- sulfonylated oligonucleotide and several shorter dna fragments , unsuitable for inversion . the remaining support was treated with 50 % aqueous acetic acid at room temperature for 3 hr to cleave the acid labile phosphoramide bond that links the inverted oligonucleotide to the support . the isolated liquid phase was evaporated and analyzed on a hplc as above , confirming that approximately 50 % of the oligonucleotide underwent inversion . moreover , as expected , no traces of shorter products , or 5 ′- sulphonylated material was found . inversion of a deprotected model oligonucleotide in an aqueous system based on the formation of a phosphoramide bond ( fig7 ) a polystyrene support , derivatized with a hydroxyl group ( 23 ), was subjected to three consecutive couplings of n - 4 amine - modified dc phosphoramidite 4 ( fig4 ) ( 9 ). these couplings were followed by single coupling of reagent 3 ( fig4 ) and 14 couplings of t amidite to form a model oligonucleotide t 15 . finally , a phosphate was introduced at the 5 ′- end of the oligonucleotide . the support was treated with conc . aqueous ammonia at 60 ° c . for 2 hr and washed extensively with water . the inversion process was started by addition of 1 - ethyl - 3 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- carbodiimide ( edac ) ( 0 . 2 m , 100 μl ) to the support suspended in n - methyl imidazole buffer ( 0 . 2 m , 200 μl ). the mixture was incubated with occasional shaking at 50 ° c . for 5 hr , washed extensively with water ( 3 × 1 . 0 ml ), ethanol ( 1 . 0 ml ) and dried by washing with acetonitrile ( 2 × 1 . 0 ml ). tbaf ( 0 . 5 m , 200 μl ) was added to the support and the suspension was kept at room temperature for 2 hr . finally , the support was washed with water ( 3 × 1 . 0 ml ) and ethanol ( 2 × 1 . 0 ml ). inversion of a deprotected model oligonucleotide in an aqueous system , based on the formation of a thioether bond ( fig8 ) a ) synthesis of a new reaaent for incorporation of a thiol function into an oligonucleotide 4 - chlorohexanol ( 2 . 73 g , 20 mmol ) was added to the magnetically stirred solution of potassium thiobenzoate ( 3 . 70 g , 20 mmol ) in dimethylformamide ( 30 ml ) and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hr . dmf was evaporated in vacuo by coevaporation with n - butanol ( 2 × 20 ml ), and the residue was suspended in ethanol ( 50 ml ). sodium hydroxide ( 2 . 0 m , 15 ml , 30 mmol ) was added and the hydrolysis of the thioester was followed by tlc ( kieselgel 60 f 254 ), using 10 % ethanol in chloroform as an eluent . after 20 min the mixture was acidified with hydrochloric acid ( 3 . 0 m , 10 ml , 30 mmol ) and trimethoxytrityl chloride ( 3 . 69 g , 10 mmol ) was added in one portion . to this stirred bright - yellow solution , triethylamine was introduced in small portions until the yellow mixture became distinctly pale . the mixture was partitioned between saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate and dichlormethane , extracted with dichlormethane ( 3 × 100 ml ) and the organic phase was evaporated and dried by coevaporation with toluene ( 100 ml ). the residue was flash chromatographed on silica gel to obtain 4 - tmtr - s - hexanol ( 4 . 15 g , 89 %). this material was reacted with 2 - cyanoethyl - n , n - diisopropylaminophospho - chloridate as described in example 1 to yield after flash chromatography phosphoroamidite 1 ( fig4 ) as a colourless oil ( yield = 86 %) a polystyrene bound model oligonucleotide t 15 was constructed exactly as described in example 2 , with the exceptions that only a single coupling of amino - modified dc 4 ( fig4 ) was done , and coupling of the 5 ′- phosphate group in the former example was substituted by a single coupling of compound 1 ( fig4 ). due to the presence of a reactive sulphur atom , the standard iodine oxidation of p ( iii ) to p ( v ) was substituted by tert - butylhydrogen peroxide ( 0 . 1 m ) in dichlormethane for 10 min . the usual aqueous ammonia deprotection and washings were performed with an unopened cassette . the support was treated for 1 hr at room temperature with n - hydroxysuccinimide ester of iodoacetic acid ( 10 mg ) dissolved in dmf ( 200 μl ) and mixed with a hepes buffer ( 0 . 2 m , ph 7 . 4 , 200 μl ) to acylate the reactive amino group . the cassette was washed with water , then with ethanol , and subjected to a detritylation on the synthesis instrument for 1 min . the support was transferred to an eppendorf tube , suspended in hepes buffer ( 0 . 2 m , ph 7 . 4 , 1 . 0 ml ), degassed with argon and incubated at room temperature for 12 hr . finally , the support was washed with water , dried by washing with acetonitrile , and treated with tbaf as described earlier . no attempts were made to quench residual thiol or iodoacetamido groups . decreased surface density of inverted oligonucleotides ; application of capillary electrophoresis in the study of a model system cassettes charged with aminomethyl polystyrene ( abi ) were placed in the oligonucleotide synthesizer and subjected to five consecutive couplings of t amidite . mixtures of t amidite and levulinyl protected amidite 6 ( fig4 ) were prepared in different proportions ( 1 : 2 , 1 : 4 and 1 : 8 ) and used for coupling to the appropriate support . partially capped supports were reacted twice with t amidite followed by coupling of cleavable amidite 5 ( fig4 ). solid - phases , derivatized in this manner ( fig9 ), were finally used in a synthesis of a model octadecathymidylic acid ( t 18 ). the 5 ′- o - dmtr protecting groups were removed and solid - phase bound oligonucleotides were phosphorylated using a 0 . 1 m o - chlorophenylphosphorobistriazolide ( 30 ) solution in pyridine : acetonitrile 1 : 1 for 10 min . further , supports were washed with acetonitrile and subjected to a mixture of 0 . 1 m hydrazine in pyridine acetic acid 4 : 1 for 10 min to remove the levulinyl function ( fig1 ). solid - phases were transferred to separate eppendorf tubes , washed with dry pyridine ( 2 × 1 ml ), and treated with 0 . 1 m msnt in pyridine for 2 hr with occasional shaking . following this condensation , supports were washed with acetonitrile ( 3 × 1 ml ), and treated with a mixture of syn - 4 - nitrophenylbenzaloxim and tetramethylguanidine in dioxane : water 1 : 1 for 16 hr to accomplish a proper hydrolysis of o - chlorophenyl - phosphotriester bond and reversal of some possible modifications of nucleotide bases that may be caused by msnt . reaction mixtures were transferred to larger screw cap tight flasks and incubated at 60 ° c . for 16 hr after addition of concentrated aqueous ammonia ( 4 ml ). mixtures were transferred to round - bottom flasks and all volatile matters were evaporated in vacuum . the residues were subjected to treatment with 80 % aqueous acetic acid for 120 min to achieve the final cleavage of inverted material from the support . finally , mixtures were evaporated , coevaporated twice with water ( 2 ml ), and analyzed by capillary electrophoresis , demonstrating the presence of substantial amounts of material longer than the non - inverted t 18 ( fig1 ). this result strongly supports the conclusion that the reaction followed the mechanism presented in fig1 . primer extension assay for probing the presence of a free 3 ′- hydroxyl group a 21 - mer oligodeoxynucleotide was syntehsized at a 0 . 2 μmol scale and inverted as described in the example 4 but without releasing it from the support . fifteen bases located at the 3 ′- end were complementary to a synthetic oligonucleotide template ( m13 - 30comp ). the m13 - 30 comp sequence is a 5 ′- gtcgacctgcaggcatgcaagcttggcact - 3 ′ seq . id . no . 1 . the particles were suspended in a mixture of water and ethaonl 1 : 1 , and 10 μl portions were withdrawn and placed in separate tubes . the analyzed material was washed 3 × using pbs buffer containing 50 mg bsa / ml . a typical 20 μl extension reaction contained polystrene beads with oligonucleotide , 1 pmol m13 - 30comp , 1 × klenow fill - in buffer , bsa 50 μg / ml , 100 mm each dap , dgtp , ttp , 2 . 5 μm dctp , radioactive α32p dctp ( 2 μl ) ( 3000 ci / mmol ; dupont ), 5u klenow polymerase . in parallel , two reactions containing all listed components but lacking template oligonucleotide or dna polymerase , respectively , were also prepared . the reactions were incubated at rt for 15 minutes and terminated by the addition of 1 μl 0 . 5m edta . the beads were washed with ( 4 × 1 ml ) bs buffer with addition of 0 . 1 % of tween 20 . to remove the hybridized template which could also serve as a primer and incorporate label the beads were washed twice with 1 ml of denaturing solution containing 1m nacl , 0 . 1 m naoh and 0 . 1 % triton x - 100 and 1 × 1 ml with 1m nacl , 0 . 1m tris - hcl ph 7 . 5 and 0 . 1 % triton x - 100 . supports were placed in a beckman scintillation counter and the incorporated radioactivity was recorded as follows . it is therefore evident that substantial amounts of inversion had occurred , yielding material with free and enzymatically active 3 ′- ends . 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