肽核酸(PNA)是一种人工合成的聚合物,类似于脱氧核糖核酸或核糖核酸。[1] 它是由彼得·尼尔森Peter E. Nielsen(哥本哈根大学)、迈克尔·埃霍姆Michael Egholm(哥本哈根大学)、罗尔夫·伯格Rolf H. Berg(里瑟国家实验室)和奥莱·布加勒斯特Ole Buchardt(哥本哈根大学)在1991年发明的。
近年来,合成肽核酸寡聚体已用于分子生物学流程、诊断分析和反义疗法。[2] 由于其较高的结合强度,没有必要设计用于这些应用的长肽核酸寡聚物,这些应用通常需要20-25个碱基的寡核苷酸探针。肽核酸寡聚物长度的主要考虑是保证特异性。肽核酸寡聚物在与互补脱氧核糖核酸结合时也表现出更强的特异性,肽核酸/脱氧核糖核酸(PNA/DNA)碱基错配比脱氧核糖核酸/脱氧核糖核酸双链体中类似的错配更不稳定。这种结合强度和特异性也适用于肽核酸/核糖核酸双链体。肽核酸不容易被核酸酶或蛋白酶识别,因此它们能抵抗酶的降解。肽核酸在很宽的酸碱度范围内也是稳定的。尽管未修饰的肽核酸不能稳定地穿过细胞膜进入胞质溶胶,但是细胞穿透肽与肽核酸的共价偶联可以提高胞质溶胶的递送效率。[3]
目前还不知道肽核酸是否天然存在,但是肽核酸的骨架——N-(2-氨基乙基)-甘氨酸(AEG)被认为是地球上生命遗传分子的早期形式,由蓝细菌产生。[4]
脱氧核糖和核糖核酸分别有脱氧核糖和核糖骨架,而肽核酸的骨架由肽键连接的重复的氮-(2-氨基乙基)-甘氨酸单元组成。各种嘌呤和嘧啶碱基通过亚甲基桥(-CH2-)和羰基(-(碳=氧)-)连接到骨架上。肽核酸被描绘成类肽,其氮末端在第一(左)位置,碳末端在最后(右)位置。[5]
由于肽核酸的骨架不含带电荷的磷酸基团,由于缺乏静电排斥,肽核酸/脱氧核糖核酸链之间的结合比脱氧核糖核酸/脱氧核糖核酸链之间的结合更强。不幸的是,这也导致它相当疏水,这使得它不被冲出体外的话就很难转运到溶液中的体细胞。同嘧啶链(仅由一个重复嘧啶碱基组成的链)的早期实验表明,6-碱基胸腺嘧啶脱氧核糖核酸/腺嘌呤脱氧核糖核酸双螺旋的Tm(“熔化”温度)为31℃,与之相比,6-碱基脱氧核糖核酸/脱氧核糖核酸双螺旋在低于10℃的温度下变性。在碱基对识别方面,混合碱基PNA分子更加类似于DNA分子。肽核酸/肽核酸结合比肽核酸/脱氧核糖核酸结合更强。
2015年,Jain等人描述了一种基于反式作用的脱氧核糖核酸的两亲性传递系统,用于方便地传递聚腺苷酸尾不带电荷的核酸,如脱氧核糖核酸和吗啉类,从而可以在体外容易地筛选几种不带电荷的核酸。[9]
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