Analysis of Modified Oligonucleotides with Capillary Gel Electrophoresis

Short segments of DNA, which have been synthesized chemically, are commonly known as synthetic oligonucleotides (ODNs). The length of the ODNs typically utilized in the lab varies but is on average between five and forty nucleotides. Chemical modifications may be selectively placed at various locations within the molecule including the backbone, the heterocyclic base, or the sugar moiety (1 ,2 ). For the work discussed in this chapter, chemical alterations were placed in three locations: the backbone, the 3’-bridging position between the backbone and the sugar moiety, and at the 5’ end.