2',4'-BNA bearing a 2-pyridine nucleobase for CG base pair recognition in the parallel motif triplex DNA.

We succeeded in the synthesis of triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) that contain a deoxyribonucleotide (Py) bearing a 2-pyridine nucleobase or the 2',4'-BNA congener (Py(B)). By UV melting experiments, it was found that 2-pyridine was a very promising nucleobase for the sequence-selective recognition of a CG base pair within double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in a parallel motif triplex. Moreover, Py(B) in TFOs showed stronger affinity to a CG base pair than Py with further increase in the selectivity. Using TFO including multiple Py(B) units, triplex formation with dsDNA containing three CG base pairs was observed.