title: Nitroazole universal bases in peptide nucleic acids.
abstract: [formula: see text] The syntheses of PNA oligomers containing potential ambiguous nucleobase analogues, namely 3-nitropyrrole and 5-nitroindole, have been accomplished. Hybridization properties of these PNAs with complementary oligodeoxynucleotides were evaluated by thermal denaturation experiments. Both novel residues exhibited little variation in Tm (< or = 1.5 degrees C) when positioned against any of the four nucleoside bases. The capability to incorporate degenerate sites should further expand the utility of PNA in applications where precise sequence information is not available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Coalition for Biomolecular Products, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa 35487-0336, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Challa
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Styers
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Woski
mesh_terms: D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D007211:Indoles; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids; D011758:Pyrroles; C094911:3-nitropyrrole; C090067:5-nitroindole