Thermal stability of triple helical DNAs containing 2'-deoxyinosine and 2'-deoxyxanthosine.

In this paper, we describe the synthesis and thermal stabilities of the triplexes containing either 2'-deoxyinosine (1) or 2'-deoxyxanthosine (3) in their second strands. It was found that the triplexes with the 2'-deoxy-5-methylcytidine(dM)*1:dC and dM*1:dA base triplets are thermally stable, but those containing the dM*1:T and dM*1:dG base triplets are unstable under both neutral and slightly acidic conditions. On the other hand, it was found that the oligonucleotide containing 3 could form thermally stable triplexes with the oligonucleotides that involve four natural bases opposite the sites of 3. The rank of the thermal stabilities of the triplexes was as follows: the triplex containing the dM*3:dC base triplet > that containing the dM*3:dA base triplet > that containing the dM*3:T base triplet > that containing the dM*3:dG base triplet.