Thermodynamic and kinetic analyses of DNA triplex formation: application of filter-binding assay

We have developed a simple and efficient method for studying equilibrium thermodynamics and kinetics of DNA triplex formation, which utilizes a filter-binding procedure. The application of this method to the triplex formation between a double-stranded homopurine-homopyrimidine and a single-stranded homopyrimidine oligonucleotides has demonstrated its ability in the quantitative estimation of equilibrium binding constants and rate constants under various conditions. Thus, this simple method can serve as a powerful tool for the systematic analysis of sequence and environmental effects on the equilibrium and kinetic quantities in the triplex formation.