ABSTRACT
Template chromatography on uracil-coupled cellulose has been used for the separation of nucleosides and mono- and oligonucleotides. Adenine derivatives exhibited a high affinity to uracil-cellulose, and sequential isomers of oligonucleotides containing adenine residues were resolved. The theory of cooperative binding of oligonucleotides to polynucleotides was extended to the framework of plate theory. A computer simulation for the elution profiles was performed using thermodynamic parameters obtained by equilibrium dialysis. This simulation duplicated the experimental results. This fact shows that the peculiar leading form of elution profile is due to the cooperative binding. Complementary oligonucleotides strive to form base pairs under certain conditions. The degree of hybridization increases with the number of complementary paired bases within the nucleotide chain. Pyrophosphate derivatives compete with linear oligonucleotides in base pairing and complicate the separation. Mixtures of oligonucleotides of high molecular weight are eluted as partially resolved fractions.
