PNA hybridizes to complementary oligonucleotides obeying the Watson–Crick hydrogen-bonding rules
Abstract
DNA analogues are currently being intensely investigated owing to their potential as gene-targeted drugs. Furthermore, their properties and interaction with DNA and RNA could provide a better understanding of the structural features of natural DNA that determine its unique chemical, biological and genetic properties. We recently designed a DNA analogue, PNA, in which the backbone is structurally homomorphous with the deoxyribose backbone and consists of N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine units to which the nucleobases are attached. We showed that PNA oligomers containing solely thymine and cytosine can hybridize to complementary oligonucleotides, presumably by forming Watson-Crick-Hoogsteen (PNA)2-DNA triplexes, which are much more stable than the corresponding DNA-DNA duplexes, and bind to double-stranded DNA by strand displacement. We report here that PNA containing all four natural nucleobases hybridizes to complementary oligonucleotides obeying the Watson-Crick base-pairing rules, and thus is a true DNA mimic in terms of base-pair recognition.
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PNA:DNA duplex has high stability.
“We opted for PNA based on the high stability of the PNA:DNA duplex and the simplicity of its chemistry (Figure 1, this work).32−34”
From Sequencing of <scp>d</scp>/<scp>l</scp>-DNA and XNA by Templated-Synthesis (2025) · cites this paper as [32]
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Sequencing of <scp>d</scp>/<scp>l</scp>-DNA and XNA by Templated-Synthesis
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- Authors
- Egholm, M., Buchardt, O., Christensen, L., Behrens, C., Freier, S. M., Driver, D. A., Berg, R. H., Kim, S. K., Norden, B., & Nielsen, P. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 1993-10
- Volume
- 365
- Issue
- 6446
- Pages
- 566-568
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2006998980
- Cited by
- 2,079
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 79 · 2019: 64 · 2018: 64 · 2017: 57 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 80 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 95 · 2012: 70
- FWCI
- 12.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion)
- Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Technical University of Denmark, DTU Orbit (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) (submittedVersion)
- Chalmers Research (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Interference and Gene Delivery
- Keywords
- peptide nucleic acid, PNA-DNA hybridization, Watson-Crick base pairing, DNA mimics, nucleobase recognition, strand displacement, DNA analogues
- MeSH terms
- Base Sequence, Cytosine, DNA, Glycine, Hydrogen Bonding, Molecular Sequence Data, Nucleic Acid Hybridization, Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, RNA, Thermodynamics, Thymine
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