Solid phase synthesis of oligonucleotides tethered to oligo-glucose phosphate tails

Oligonucleotides conjugated at both 3′ and 5′-ends with glucose residues, 4,6-linked through a phosphodiester bridge, have been synthesized by sequential addition of a 6-O-DMT-glucose-4-phosphoramidite building block following a standard automated ODN assembly procedure. Two 3′,5′-bis-glycoconjugated 18-mers, designed for antisense experiments, have been prepared and their hybridization properties with a complementary DNA fragment evaluated by UV thermal analysis.