Article
Biophysics
Philip Gillespie, Robert B. Channon, Xiaotong Meng, Md Nazmul Islam, Sylvain Ladame, Danny O'Hare
Summary: Short single-stranded nucleic acids found in bodily fluids, particularly miR-141, have emerged as minimally invasive biomarkers for diseases such as cancer. This study introduces a novel sensing strategy using electrochemically active molecular probes based on PNA scaffolds for detecting short nucleic acids, demonstrating promising potential for fast, low-cost, quantitative, and sequence-specific detection of nucleic acids from liquid biopsies through EOTRs.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dino Gluhacevic von Kruchten, Magdalena Roth, Oliver Seitz
Summary: This study introduces a new reaction design involving the template-controlled cleavage of PNA-spermine conjugates, allowing for catalytic activity and high efficiency. It has potential applications in DNA-encoded drug discovery and nucleic acid diagnostics.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Richard Houska, Marvin Bjorn Stutz, Oliver Seitz
Summary: The study presents a reaction system for synthesizing Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors in water using native chemical ligation to form benzanilides. This method was successfully applied for the synthesis of thiolated ponatinib and GZD824 derivatives, with only a moderate effect on the affinity for Abl1 kinase. Nucleic acid-templated benzanilide formation could potentially find application in DNA-encoded combinatorial libraries for drug discovery.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Javier Cabello-Garcia, Wooli Bae, Guy-Bart Stan, Thomas E. Ouldridge
Summary: The use of templates for sequence-controlled assemblies, particularly in long polymers, is a well-established method. However, the transient template recognition interactions during the biogenesis of sequence-controlled polymers can disrupt the equilibrium, leading to the production of far-from-equilibrium output. Handhold-mediated strand displacement (HMSD) is proposed as an alternative mechanism to generate out-of-equilibrium products by decoupling drive and specificity in DNA-based reactions.
Review
Biology
Gleb S. S. Ivanov, Vyacheslav G. G. Tribulovich, Nikolay B. B. Pestov, Temitope I. I. David, Abdul-Saleem Amoah, Tatyana V. V. Korneenko, Nikolai A. A. Barlev
Summary: Peptide nucleic acids and other artificial genetic polymers have garnered significant interest from the scientific community since their discovery by Nielsen in 1991. Due to their unique biophysical properties, these artificial hybrid polymers are now widely used in various areas of therapy and diagnostics. This review provides an overview of their structure, rational design principles, and biophysical features, highlighting successful implementation in biology and biomedicine. The review also discusses areas of improvement for their future use as a new class of therapeutics.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Puja Saha, Deepanjan Panda, Jyotirmayee Dash
Summary: Nucleic acids are crucial in cellular information transfer and gene regulation. DNA and RNA molecules are associated with human diseases and offer opportunities for small molecule-based therapeutics. However, developing target-selective molecules with defined biological activity has always been challenging.
CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mateusz Waliczek, Wiktoria Gancarz, Paulina Pochwala, Ozge Pehlivan, Piotr Stefanowicz
Summary: The study presents an efficient and straightforward method of visible light-driven diselenide-based metathesis of peptide-nucleic acid conjugates. The use of PNA molecules as templates significantly increases the efficiency of the reaction.
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Min Yang, Longjiao Zhu, Wenping Yang, Wentao Xu
Summary: This article provides a comprehensive review of the recent advances in nucleic acid-mediated silver nanoclusters that first emerged in 2007. It focuses on the properties and structures of nucleic acid-templated silver nanoclusters, as well as the regulation of their properties by nucleic acid sequences, conformation, and structure. The most recent advances in nucleic acid-templated silver nanoclusters in biological detection are highlighted. Current challenges, prospects, and future directions are also discussed.
COORDINATION CHEMISTRY REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Gan Zhu, Ping Song, Jing Wu, Minglan Luo, Zhipeng Chen, Tingjian Chen
Summary: Nucleic acids play a crucial role in storing and retrieving genetic information in all living organisms, as well as providing materials for artificial nanostructures and scaffolds for constructing high-performance multi-enzyme systems. Introducing unnatural moieties into nucleic acids significantly increases their diversity, expanding the toolbox for making nanomaterials and multi-enzyme system scaffolds.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Daniele Rosa-Gastaldo, Andrea Dalla Valle, Tommaso Marchetti, Luca Gabrielli
Summary: A new family of duplex-forming recognition encoded oligomers was developed with the ability of sequence selective duplex formation and template directed synthesis. The duplex formation and assembly properties were studied by F-19 and H-1 NMR experiments. The use of dynamic combinatorial chemistry demonstrated the templated synthesis of complementary oligomers. The H-bond recognition played a key role in discriminating mutated donor monomers. The combination of sequence-selective duplex formation and template effect makes this system a promising target for further studies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nikita Brodyagin, Aubrey L. Maryniak, Ilze Kumpina, John M. Talbott, Martins Katkevics, Eriks Rozners, James A. MacKay
Summary: Peptide nucleic acids (PNA) with extended isoorotamides containing nucleobases (I-o) were designed to bind A-U base pairs in double-stranded RNA. Isothermal titration calorimetry and UV thermal melting experiments showed improved affinity for A-U using the Io scaffold in PNA, with PNAs having four sequential Io extended nucleobases maintaining high binding affinity.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Rachael Putman, Adele S. Ricciardi, Kelly E. W. Carufe, Elias Quijano, Raman Bahal, Peter M. Glazer, W. Mark Saltzman
Summary: Gene editing using nanoparticle delivery system has been demonstrated to be effective in correcting gene mutations during early embryonic development, potentially offering a cure or prevention for genetic diseases.
BIOENGINEERING & TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Li-Hao Chang, Oliver Seitz
Summary: Nucleic acid-programmed reactions have applications in drug screening and nucleic acid diagnosis, and show potential for a RNA-sensitive prodrug approach. In this study, we demonstrate peptide-PNA conjugates undergo peptidyl transfer reactions on RNA templates and uncover high reactivity of certain PNA sequence motifs and combinations of cell-penetrating peptides in the absence of a template. The products of templated peptidyl transfer show activity on HeLa cells and HEK293 cells, and the presence of cysteine enhances bioactivity.
BIOORGANIC & MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ruth Aizen, Zohar A. Arnon, Or Berger, Antonella Ruggiero, Dor Zaguri, Noam Brown, Evgeny Shirshin, Inna Slutsky, Ehud Gazit
Summary: Nucleobase crystals have unique fluorescence properties in the visible spectrum, unlike their monomeric counterparts. Additionally, some nucleobases exhibit a red edge excitation shift, which is uncommon in the field of organic supramolecular materials and may have implications in therapeutic and materials science.
NANOSCALE ADVANCES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lajos Kovacs
Summary: Nucleic acids are crucial for life processes. The synthesis of analogues and investigation of their properties have provided insights into the essential characteristics of these building blocks. The accidental discovery of a side reaction led to the development of a new peptide sequencing method. The study of guanine derivatives and their properties further advanced the understanding of supramolecular systems composed of purine analogues.