Transcription of 4′-thioDNA templates to natural RNA in vitro and in mammalian cells

Abstract

Synthetic chemically modified nucleic acids, which are compatible with DNA/RNA polymerases, have great potential as a genetic material for synthetic biological studies. A comprehensive analysis of the transcription of 4′-thioDNA templates to natural RNA is herein reported. The modifications of DNA with 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides, so-called 4′-thioDNA, were found to act as templates for transcription with RNA polymerases both in vitro and in mammalian cells.