Azole substituted oligonucleotides promote antiparallel triplex formation at non-homopurine duplex targets

The ability of certain azole substituted oligodeoxy-ribonucleotides to promote antiparallel triple helix formation with duplex targets having CG or TA interruptions in the otherwise homopurine sequence was examined. 2'-Deoxyribonucleosides of the azoles, which include pyrazole, imidazole, 1,2,4-triazole and 1,2,3,4-tetrazole were synthesized using the stereo-specific sodium salt glycosylation procedure. These nucleosides were successfully incorporated using solid-support, phosphoramidite chemistry, into oligonucleotides designed to interact with the non-homopurine duplex targets. The interaction of these modified oligonucleotides with all four possible base pairs was evaluated and compared to similar data for a series of natural oligonucleotides. The oligonucleotides containing simple azoles enhanced the triplex forming ability considerably at non-homopurine targets. Binding of these modified oligonucleotides to duplex targets containing TA inversion sites was particularly noteworthy, and compare favorably to unmodified oligonucleotides for binding to duplex targets containing CG as well as TA base pairs. The selectivity exhibited by certain azoles is suggestive of base pair specific interactions. Thus, the azoles evaluated during this study show considerable promise for efforts to develop generalized triplex formation at non-homopurine duplex sequences.