Boronic acid-based autoligation of nucleic acids: influence of the nature of the 3′-end ribonucleotidic strand

Applications of the Reversible Boronic Acids/Boronate Switch to Nucleic Acids

Over the last decades, boron and nucleic acids chemistries have gained a lot of attention for biological, medicinal and analytical applications. Our laboratory has a long-standing interest in both chemistries and owing to the ability of boronic acids to react with cis-diol function in aqueous media we developed over the years a variety of applications ranging from molecular recognition and sensing to the development of reversible dynamic systems in which the natural phosphodiester linkage was replaced by a boronate. In this account, we summarize research results from our group from our preliminary studies on molecular recognition of ribonucleosides to the dynamic assembly of functional DNAzymes. In particular, the various parameters influencing the dynamic nature of these reversible covalent bonds able to respond to external stimuli are discussed. Finally, current challenges and opportunities for boron-based nucleic acids are also addressed.

DNA-templated borononucleic acid self assembly: a study of minimal complexity

The minimal degree of sequence complexity needed for DNA-templated self-assembly of bifunctional oligonucleotides able to form internucleosidic boronate linkages has been studied.

Monitoring of reversible boronic acid–diol interactions by fluorine NMR spectroscopy in aqueous media

A new convenient method for monitoring boronic acid–diol interactions in aqueous media based on ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy with fluorinated boronic acid probes is described.

pH-controlled DNA- and RNA-templated assembly of short oligomers

In the area of artificial genetics the development of non-enzymatic self-organization of synthetic building blocks is critical for both providing biopolymers with extended functions and understanding prebiotic processes. While reversibility is believed to have played a major role in early functional genetic materials, we previously reported an efficient DNA-templated ligation of suitably designed 5'-end boronic acid and 3'-end ribonucleosidic half-sequences. Here, we report the enzyme-free and activation-free DNA- and RNA-templated assembly of bifunctional hexamers. The reversible assembly was found to be regio- and sequence specific and the stabilities of the resulting duplexes were compared to their nicked counterparts. To go further with our understanding of this unprecedented process we also examined an auto-templated duplex self-assembly representing a key step toward the evolution of sequence-defined synthetic polymers.