BRANCHED OLIGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDES - A NEW SYNTHETIC STRATEGY AND FORMATION OF STRONG INTRAMOLECULAR AND INTERMOLECULAR TRIPLE-HELICAL COMPLEXES

A fully automated synthetic strategy for preparation of branched oligo deoxynucleotide (ODN) analogues with sequences of arbitrary length and base composition is described. Various novel triple helix forming bra nched ODNs were synthesized and their behavior during thermal denatura tion at 260 nm and 284 nm studied. The intra- and intermolecular hybri dization properties of the novel branched ODNs are improved compared t o analogous linear ODNs.