The present invention provides compositions comprising at least one
oligomeric compound comprising an alternating motif and further include a
region that is complementary to a nucleic acid target. The compositions
are useful for targeting selected nucleic acid molecules and modulating
the expression of one or more genes. In preferred embodiments the
compositions of the present invention hybridize to a portion of a target
RNA resulting in loss of normal function of the target RNA. The present
invention also provides methods for modulating gene expression.