High-affinity nucleic acid recognition using ‘LNA’ (locked nucleic acid, β-D-ribo configured LNA), ‘xylo-LNA’ (β-D-xylo configured LNA) or ‘α-L-LNA’ (α-L-ribo configured LNA)

Remarkably strong binding affinities towards complementary single stranded DNA and RNA were obtained for 10- and 14-mer LNAs (locked nucleic acids) containing diastereoisomeric β-D-ribo, β-D-xylo or α-L-ribo configured LNA thymine monomers; a possible relevance of these results in relation to nucleic acid evolution is discussed.