The present invention provides a system for generating nucleic acid molecules having reduced levels of secondary structure compared to nucleic acid molecules of the same nucleotide sequence containing only naturally-occurring bases. Such molecules are referred to herein as "unstructured nucleic acids" (UNAs). UNAs have reduced levels of secondary structure because of their reduced ability to form intramolecular hydrogen bond base pairs between regions of substantially complementary sequence. Preferred UNAs, however, retain the ability to form intermolecular hydrogen bond base pairs with other nucleic acid molecules.
本发明提供了一种生成核酸分子的系统,与仅含有天然碱基的相同核苷酸序列的核酸分子相比,这种核酸分子的二级结构
水平较低。这种分子在此称为 "非结构化核酸"(UNAs)。由于 UNAs 在基本互补序列区域之间形成分子内氢键碱基对的能力减弱,因此二级结构
水平降低。不过,优选的 UNAs 仍具有与其它核酸分子形成分子间氢键碱基对的能力。