5-Me-dC (Figure 1) stands for 5-methyl deoxycytosine. When inserted in an oligonucleotide, 5-Me-dC increases the stability of the resulting duplex by raising the Tm of 1.3 °C per 5-Me-dC residue added. Therefore, 5-Me-dC- modified oligos can hybridize more efficiently to their targets. Use of 5-Me-dC results in:
- strong-binding PCR primers;
- reduction of inflammatory response when used in antisense oligos rich in CpG motives;
- the feasibility of DNA methylation studies.
Figure 1. Structure of 5-Me-dC at the 5'-end (R = sequence).
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References
- Lebedev Y., Akopyants N., Azhikina T., Shevchenko Y., Potapov V., Stecenko D., Berg D., Sverdlov E. Oligonucleotides containing 2-aminoadenine and 5-methylcytosine are more effective as primers for PCR amplification than their nonmodified counterparts. Genet Anal. 1996 May;13(1):15-21.
- Henry S., Stecker K., Brooks D., Monteith D., Conklin B., Bennett CF. Chemically modified oligonucleotides exhibit decreased immune stimulation in mice. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2000 Feb;292(2):468-79.
- Ishii T., Fujishiro M., Masuda M., Teramoto S., Matsuse T. A methylated oligonucleotide induced methylation of GSTP1 promoter and suppressed its expression in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells. Cancer Lett. 2004 Aug 30;212(2):211-23.