Nucleic Acid Seqeuence Analysis Using Oligonucleotide Probes

We have designed and synthesized oligonucleotides possessing a pyrene or a bis-pyrene at the defined position using phosphoramidite chemistry. The pyrene probes exhibit strongly enhanced fluorescence upon binding to specific sequences of DNA/RNA. The attractive features of our probes are that the pyrene fluorescence is sensitive to local base sequences and structures of probe-nucleic acid complexes around the pyrene modification. The pyrene probes would thus be useful in fluorescence recognition of nucleic acid sequences and structures.