What is "boranophosphate"

Boranophosphates are synthetic modifications of nucleosides being studied as potential therapeutic and diagnostic agents. They were first developed in the laboratories of Barbara Ramsay Shaw. The boranophosphate resembles the normal phosphate in that the negative charge is retained; however, the polarity of the molecule changes because the negative charge is localized on the remaining non-bridging oxygen. Partitioning experiments have demonstrated that boranophosphates are more lipophilic than normal phosphates; this could allow for increased cellular uptake and targeted delivery. In addition, boranophosphates have increased nuclease resistance without affecting activation of RNase H cleavage of RNA in RNA:boranophosphate hybrids.