What is antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotides? - (Oct/14/2006 )

could somebody tell me what it is, and its use, mechanism? thank you very much!

phosphothionalte oligos are made with a sulfur modified phosphate linkage between bases. The result is that they are unable to be degraded by the normal exo and endo nucleases, and are quite stable in a biological environment. There are many uses -- as many as for normal primers, with the additional possibility of theraputic uses in vivo. Antisense primers can be used to inhibit translation of mRNA and to enhance its degradation. This is probably the use you have come across. Compare PNA (peptide-nucleic acids) which replace the deoxyribose backbone with a peptide backbone, for similar reasons.

thank you so much, your reply helps me a lot!