Conjugated Oligonucleotides for Biochemical Applications

In the last 30 years oligonucleotides i.e., relatively short polymers (usually 12-24 units long) based on DNA structure, have found a widespread use in biochemical studies and as biochemical probes and chemotherapeutic agents for the downregulation of genetic expression or for exon skipping. Here we present a short review of studies from our laboratories on the synthesis and applications of different kind of conjugates to address some of these techniques. Preparation of conjugates with small alkyl groups, intercalators, fluorescent oligothiophenes, and lipophilic bile-acids will be discussed.