Peptide nucleic acid: Current perspectives and application for future therapeutics

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) mimic based on a polyamide backbone first synthesized and reported by Peter Nielsen in 1991. PNA shows remarkable hybridization properties and has many exciting applications. It is chemically and biologicaly stable and can readily conjugate with peptides and other useful molecules. The search for new chemical modification of the PNA is a very active field of research and new structures are continuosly proposed. Conjugation of an oligonucleotide to some peptides that can move through the cell membrane would facilitate the passage of this conjugate across for delivery into the cell’s cytosol. Oligonucleotides can also be conjugated to lipids to yield derivatives with lipophilic properties that are capable to pass across the cell membrane. Thus, PNA can have multiple roles to perform in molecular biology, antigene therapy, molecular diagnostics and nanobiotechnology.