Light-triggered strand exchange reaction using the change in the hydrogen bonding pattern of a nucleobase analogue

Abstract

A light-triggered strand exchange reaction was developed using the change in the hydrogen-donor–acceptor pattern of a nucleobase analogue. We demonstrated that a new light-responsive nucleobase analogue derived from 4-hydroxy-2-mercaptobenzimidazole (SB^NV) preferentially recognized guanine before photoirradiation and adenine after photoirradiation in duplexes. By using oligodeoxynucleotides modified with SB^NV, a light-triggered strand exchange reaction targeting different mRNA fragment sequences was achieved. These results indicate that SB^NV could be a powerful material for manipulating a nucleic acid assembly in a spatially and temporally controlled manner.