Hybridizing all-lna oligonucleotides

A method for providing a binding pair, the binding pair consisting of a first single-stranded (ss) locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotide and a second single-stranded LNA oligonucleotide, the first ss-LNA oligonucleotide and the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide being capable of forming an antiparallel duplex of 8 to 15 consecutive Watson-Crick base pairs at a temperature from about 20° C. to about 40° C., the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a first ss-LNA oligonucleotide consisting of 8 to 15 LNA monomers, each LNA monomer comprising a nucleobase, the nucleobases of the first ss-LNA oligonucleotide forming a first nucleobase sequence of the first ss-LNA oligonucleotide;
• (b) providing a second ss-LNA oligonucleotide consisting of 8 to 15 LNA monomers, the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide consisting of at least the same number of LNA monomers as the first ss-LNA oligonucleotide, each LNA monomer of the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide comprising a nucleobase, the nucleobases of the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide forming a second nucleobase sequence of the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide, the second nucleobase sequence comprising a nucleobase sequence complementary to the first nucleobase sequence in antiparallel orientation, wherein the first ss-LNA oligonucleotide and the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide have the capability to form an antiparallel duplex with each other, the antiparallel duplex consisting of 8 to 15 consecutive Watson-Crick base pairs;
• (c) mixing equal molar amounts of the first ss-LNA oligonucleotide and the second ss-LNA oligonucleotide in an aqueous solution to obtain a mixture and incubating the mixture for a time interval of 20 minutes or less at a temperature ranging from about 20° C. to about 40° C. to form the antiparallel duplex;
• (d) separating the antiparallel duplex, if present, the first ss-LNA oligonucleotides and the second ss-LNA oligonucleotides from the mixture in step (c) at a temperature ranging from about 20° C. to about 40° C., followed by detecting and quantifying the separated antiparallel duplex, the separated first ss-LNA oligonucleotides and the separated second ss-LNA oligonucleotides;
• (e) selecting the separated antiparallel duplex as the binding pair if in step (d) the antiparallel duplex is detectably present, and if the molar amount of the antiparallel duplex is higher than the molar amounts of the separated first ss-LNA oligonucleotides and the separated second ss-LNA oligonucleotides;
• thereby providing the binding pair.