| Abstract
| - We appended pyrene units covalently onto adenosine (forming AP units) and then incorporated them intooligonucleotides such that they were positioned in complementary locations in opposite strands in the middlepositions of hairpin stems. System 1 (APAP) behaves as an effective molecular beacon (MB) that changes colorfrom green to blue upon duplex formation. In addition, we attached a cholesterol unit to a free terminus of oneof these hairpins; this approach enhanced the cellular delivery of the modified MB relative to those encounteredwhen using conventional transfection methods. These structurally simple cholesterol-based MB systems, whichcan be synthesized very efficiently, have good potential for opening up new and exciting opportunities in thefield of in vivo biosensors.
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