Novel oligomers are disclosed which have enhanced ability with respect to forming duplexes or triplexes compared with oligomers containing only conventional bases. The oligomers contain the bases 5-(1-propynyl)uracil, 5-(1-propynyl)cytosine or related analogs. The oligomers of the invention are capable of (i) forming triplexes with various target sequences such as virus or oncogene sequences by coupling into the major groove of a target DNA duplex at physiological pH or (ii) forming duplexes by binding to single-stranded DNA or to RNA encoded by target genes. The oligomers of the invention can be incorporated into pharmaceutically acceptable carriers and can be constructed to have any desired sequence, provided the sequence normally includes one or more bases that is replaced with the analogs of the invention. compositions of the invention can be used as pharmaceutical agents to treat various diseases such as those caused by viruses and can be used for diagnostic purposes in order to detect viruses or disease conditions.
本发明揭示了一种新型寡聚物(oligomers),与仅含有传统碱基的寡聚物相比,该寡聚物具有更强的形成双链或三链结构的能力。该寡聚物包含碱基5-(1-
丙炔基)尿
嘧啶,5-(1-
丙炔基)
胞嘧啶或相关类似物。本发明的寡聚物能够(i)通过在生理pH下耦合到靶DNA双链的主沟槽中,与各种靶序列(如病毒或癌
基因序列)形成三链结构;或者(ii)通过结合到单链DNA或由靶
基因编码的RNA来形成双链结构。本发明的寡聚物可以被纳入到药学可接受的载体中,并且可以构建任何所需的序列,只要该序列通常包含一个或多个被本发明的类似物替换的碱基。本发明的组合物可以用作制药剂治疗各种疾病,例如由病毒引起的疾病,并且可以用于诊断目的,以检测病毒或疾病情况。