What is oligonucleotide

Oligonucleotide (Oligonucleotide), generally refers to a linear polynucleotide fragment of 2-10 nucleotide residues linked by phosphodiester bonds, but when this term is used, the number of nucleotide residues There are no strict regulations. In many literatures, polynucleotide molecules containing 30 or more nucleotide residues are also called oligonucleotides. Oligonucleotides can be automatically synthesized by instruments. They can be used as DNA synthesis primers, gene probes, etc., and have a wide range of uses in modern molecular biology research.

application

Oligonucleotides are often used as probes to determine the structure of DNA or RNA, and are used in processes such as gene chip, electrophoresis, and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

The DNA synthesized by the oligonucleotide can be used in the chain polymerization reaction, which can amplify and confirm almost all DNA fragments. In this process, the oligonucleotide is used as a primer to combine with the labeled complementary fragment in the DNA to make a DNA copy. .

Regulatory oligonucleotides are used to inhibit RNA fragments and prevent them from being translated into proteins, which can play a certain role in stopping the activity of cancer cells.