Superior duplex DNA strand invasion by acridine conjugated peptide nucleic acids

Thomas Bentin, Peter E. Nielsen

Abstract

DNA helix invasion by P-loop forming peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) is extremely sensitive to increased ionic strength as this stabilizes the DNA duplex. To address this, the DNA intercalator 9-aminoacridine was conjugated to helix invading PNAs, and the duplex DNA binding efficiency of such constructs was measured at different ionic strength conditions by electrophoretic mobility shift analysis. Remarkably, at physiogically relevant ionic strength (140 mM K+/10 mM Na+, 2 mM Mg2+), acridine conjugated PNAs showed 20-150-fold superior binding to a cognate sequence target as compared to the conventional PNAs. This enhancement occurred without compromising the sequence specificity of binding. Thus, simply conjugating the DNA intercalator 9-aminoacridine to PNA represents a major step toward the development of helix invading constructs for in vivo applications such as gene targeting.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume125
Issue number21
Pages (from-to)6378-9
Number of pages2
ISSN0002-7863
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 May 2003

Keywords

  • Aminacrine/chemistry
  • DNA/chemistry
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Intercalating Agents/chemistry
  • Osmolar Concentration
  • Peptide Nucleic Acids/chemistry

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