Precipitation of nucleotides by calcium phosphate

Earlier it has been shown that nucleic acids of high molecular weight can be be introduced into cells by coprecipitation with calcium phosphate. We have studied the requirements for calcium phosphate coprecipitation of shorter nucleotides. The degree of coprecipitation of dodecanucleotides lacking terminal phosphate varied between 25 and 72%. Tetramers with a 5'-monophosphate were coprecipitated to 29-87% by calcium phosphate. A high content of guanosine residues and an increased number of terminal phosphate groups increased the degree of coprecipitation of nucleotides. The trinucleotide pppA2'p5'A2'p5'A was effectively precipitated by calcium phosphate but the monophosphate and the core structure were not.