Auto-ligating oligonucleotide antisense compounds having diagnostic and therapeutic applications

摘要

The invention provides compositions and a method for delivering an antisense compound or probe to a target polynucleotide. The compositions of the invention comprise a plurality of compounds each having an oligonucleotide moiety from about 4 to 12 monomers in length whose 3' and/or 5' termini have been modified by the addition of one or more terminal binding moieties. Whenever the oligonucleotide moieties specifically anneal to a target polynucleotide in a contiguous end-to-end fashion, the terminal binding moieties are capable of spontaneously interacting with one another to form a covalent linkages or stable complexes so that an effective antisense compound or probe is formed. The invention facilitates the delivery of antisense compounds to their targets and reduces the likelihood of nonspecific binding to non-target structures.