SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS OF OLIGORIBONUCLEOTIDES CONTAINING N-4-METHYLCYTIDINE

The modified nucleoside N-4-methylcytidine was incorporated in place o f individual C residues in synthetic TAR and RRE RNA duplexes represen ting the binding sites for the HIV-1 tat and rev proteins respectively . In no case was cognate protein binding disrupted showing that the ex ocyclic amino groups of C residues are not sites of protein recognitio n.