One-electron reductive template-directed ligation of oligodeoxynucleotides possessing a disulfide bond

Hypoxic X-radiolysis of diluted aqueous solutions was performed to generate hydrated electrons that induced one-electron reduction of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) possessing a disulfide bond. Upon hypoxic irradiation of dinucleotides, two forms of dinucleotides were produced via intermolecular exchange of the disulfides and ligation that proceeded with a multiple turnover. In contrast to the efficient reaction induced by hypoxic irradiation, the reaction efficiency was dramatically decreased when irradiation was performed under aerobic conditions, presumably due to capturing reactive hydrated electrons by molecular oxygen. We subsequently applied these unique reaction characteristics to template-directed ligation. In the presence of a complementary template ODN, two ODNs possessing a disulfide bond produced a prescribed ODN with high regioselectivity via interstrand crossing upon hypoxic irradiation.