title: [Peptide Nucleic Acids (PNA)--the explorer of gene mystery].
abstract: Peptide Nucleic Acids(PNA) are DNA analogues in which the naturally occurring nucleobases are attached via methylene carbonyl linkages to an achiral pseudopeptide backbone of N-(2-aminoethyl) glycine units. PNA can bind to both DNA and RNA targets in a sequence-specific manner. PNA provides a powerful tool to study the mechanism for gene replication and transcription as well as an innovative strategy to regulate target gene expression. Advances as a probe in molecular biotechnology have greatly improved the sensitivity and the efficiency in genetic investigations and diagnosis. Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) which recognizes and binds to a complementary nucleic acid sequence presents unique physicochemical properties and has been incorporated into an expanding set of biological investigations. Accordingly, PNA is becoming the explorer of gene mystery.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science , Capital Normal University, Beijing 100037, China. fayefe@163.com
authors.forename: Yi-Nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: Fei-Xiong
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids