<p>The present invention provides double stranded compositions wherein the first strand comprises three different regions and the second strand is native RNA. Each region has native or modified ribofuranosyl sugar moieties that are different than those of the other two regions. At least a portion of the first oligomeric compound is complementary to and hybridizes to a nucleic acid target. The present invention also provides methods for modulating gene expression using the modified oligomeric compounds and compositions of oligomeric compounds.</p>