Amides as a New Type of Backbone Modification in Oligonucleotides

Abstract

No decrease in the affinity for the complementary RNA target is observed when the natural phosphodiester linkages in oligonucleotides are replaced with amide units. This was found in investigations of oligonucleotides containing one or more modified components 1. In addition these oligonucleotides are roughly ten times more resistant towards 3′-exonucleases.