Sequence confirmation of modified oligonucleotides using chemical degradation, electrospray ionization, time-of-flight, and tandem mass spectrometry

Anal Chem. 2008 Oct 1;80(19):7414-21. doi: 10.1021/ac8011158. Epub 2008 Aug 27.

Abstract

We report the sequencing of highly modified oligonucleotides containing a mixture of 2'-deoxy, 2'-fluoro, 2'-O-methyl, abasic, and ribonucleotides. The passenger and guide strands each containing 48% and 86% of modified nucleotides, respectively, are representative sequences of synthetic short interfering RNAs (siRNAs). We describe herein the sequence confirmation of both strands using a series of robust chemical reactions, followed by analysis via ESI-TOF and ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS). The following method enables the rapid sequence confirmation of highly modified oligonucleotides.

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / methods
  • Oligonucleotides / analysis*
  • Oligonucleotides / chemical synthesis
  • Oligonucleotides / chemistry
  • Oligonucleotides / genetics
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*

Substances

  • Oligonucleotides