Fei Yi-Nan, Zhang Fei-Xiong
College of Life Science , Capital Normal University, Beijing 100037, China.
Yi Chuan. 2006 May;28(5):623-30.
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.
肽核酸（PNA）是DNA类似物，其中天然存在的核碱基通过亚甲基羰基键连接到由N-（2-氨基乙基）甘氨酸单元组成的非手性假肽主链上。PNA可以以序列特异性方式与DNA和RNA靶标结合。PNA为研究基因复制和转录机制提供了强大工具，也是调节靶基因表达的创新策略。作为分子生物技术中的一种探针，其进展极大地提高了基因研究和诊断的灵敏度和效率。能够识别并结合互补核酸序列的肽核酸（PNA）具有独特的物理化学性质，并已被应用于越来越多的生物学研究中。因此，PNA正成为基因奥秘的探索者。
