Compatibility of 5-ethynyl-2′F-ANA UTP with in vitro selection for the generation of base-modified, nuclease resistant aptamers

A modified nucleoside triphosphate bearing two modifications based on a 2’-deoxy-2’-fluoro-arabinofuranose sugar and a uracil nucleobase equipped with a C5-ethynyl moiety (5-ethynyl-2’F-ANA UTP) was synthesized. This nucleotide analog was shown to be compatible with enzymatic XZA synthesis and with reverse transcription of XZA to DNA. This nucleotide could be used in SELEX for the identification of high binding affinity and nuclease resistant aptamers.