Functionalization of Oligonucleotides with Amino Groups and Attachment of Amino Specific Reporter Groups

The most common technique to label oligodeoxynucleotides is the enzymatic incorporation of the radioisotope ³² Pat the 5′-end. Although this method affords high sensitivity of detection, the use of the radiolabeled probe is precluded in many clinical and diagnostic applications. In the last few years, several labeling procedures for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences using nonradioactive labels such as biotin, digoxigenin, dinitrophenol, acetylaminofluorene, and certain enzymes or fluorophores have been developed. The labels are incorporated into synthetic oligonucleotides either enzymatically or chemically before hybridization of the probe.