Department of Social and Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2010 Mar;86(2):397-402. doi: 10.1007/s00253-009-2387-8. Epub 2010 Feb 5.
Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are nucleic acid analogs having attractive properties such as quiet stability against nucleases and proteases, and they form strong complexes with complementary strands of DNA or RNA. Because of this attractive nature, PNA is often used in antisense technology to inhibit gene expression and microbial cell growth with high specificity. Many bacterial antisense or antiribosomal studies using PNA oligomers have been reported so far, and parameters to design effective antisense PNAs and to improve PNA cell entry for efficient inhibition of bacterial growth have been presented. However, there are still several obstacles such as low cellular uptake of PNA while applying antisense PNAs to a complex microbial community. On overcoming these problems, the PNA antisense technique might become a very attractive tool not only for controlling the microbial growth but also for further elucidating microbial ecology in complex microbial consortia. Here, we summarize and present recent studies on the development of antimicrobial PNAs targeting mRNAs and rRNAs. In addition, the application potentiality of antisense techniques in nonclinical biotechnology fields is discussed.
肽核酸（PNA）是一种核酸类似物，具有许多吸引人的特性，如对核酸酶和蛋白酶的稳定性高，并且能与 DNA 或 RNA 的互补链形成强复合物。由于这种吸引力，PNA 经常被用于反义技术，以高度特异性抑制基因表达和微生物细胞生长。迄今为止，已经有许多使用 PNA 寡聚物的细菌反义和抗核糖体研究报告，并且已经提出了设计有效反义 PNA 和提高 PNA 细胞进入以有效抑制细菌生长的参数。然而，在将反义 PNA 应用于复杂微生物群落时，仍然存在几个障碍，例如 PNA 的细胞摄取率低。克服这些问题后，PNA 反义技术不仅可能成为控制微生物生长的非常有吸引力的工具，而且可能进一步阐明复杂微生物群落中的微生物生态学。在这里，我们总结并介绍了针对 mRNA 和 rRNA 的抗菌 PNA 的最新研究进展。此外，还讨论了反义技术在非临床生物技术领域的应用潜力。
