We have tested the inhibitory potential of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) on in vitro reverse transcription of the HIV-1 gag gene. PNA was designed to target different regions of the HIV-1 gag gene and the effect on reverse transcription by HIV-1, MMLV and AMV reverse transcriptases (RTs) was investigated. We found that a bis-PNA (parallel antisense 10mer linked to antiparallel antisense 10mer) was...

Charge transfer (CT) properties are compared between peptide nucleic acid structures with an aminoethylglycine backbone (aeg-PNA) and those with a γ-methylated backbone (γ-PNA). The common aeg-PNA is an achiral molecule with a flexible structure, whereas γ-PNA is a chiral molecule with a significantly more rigid structure than aeg-PNA. Electrochemical measurements show that the CT rate constant...

Incorporation of a guanidine functional group into the PNA backbone facilitates cellular uptake of PNA into mammalian cells with efficiency comparable to that of the TAT transduction domain. The modified PNA recognizes and binds to the complementary DNA strand in accordance with Watson-Crick recognition rules. However, unlike polypyrimidine PNA which binds to DNA in 2:1 stoichiometry, the modif...

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that siblings of children with peanut allergy (PNA) have a higher prevalence of PNA than the general population. OBJECTIVES The Canadian Peanut Allergy Registry was used to assess the percentage of siblings of registered index PNA children who were 1) never exposed to peanut or 2) reportedly diagnosed with PNA by a physician without either a history of allergic reac...

A cyclic molecule including a hexameric PNA sequence has been designed and synthesized in order to target the TAR RNA loop of HIV-1 through the formation of a "kissing complex". For comparison, its linear analogue has also been investigated. The synthesis of the cyclic and linear PNA has been accomplished following a liquid-phase strategy using mixed PNA and fully N-protected (aminoethylglycina...

The preparation of t-butoxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected O(4)-(o-nitrophenyl) thymine peptide nucleic acid (PNA) monomer is described. This PNA monomer was incorporated into PNA oligomer sequences. The post-synthetic modification of the oligomers to yield fluorescently-labelled PNA oligomers was studied before and after the removal of the protecting groups. In both cases, the desired fluorescently-l...

Lymphocyte proliferation induced by the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) is inhibited by agents known to induce differentiation in murine erythroleukemia cells and other cell lines. In the present study, we determined the cellular targets for the action of TPA among murine thymocyte subpopulations, the phase of blastogenesis that is activated by the tumor promoter, and ...

Long RNA substrates are inefficiently cleaved by hammerhead ribozymes in trans. Oligonucleotide facilitators capable of affecting the ribozyme activity by interacting with the substrates at the termini of the ribozyme provide a possibility to improve ribozyme mediated cleavage of long RNA substrates. We have examined the effect of PNA as facilitator in vitro in order to test if even artificial ...

We here present a reconstruction (1725–1999) of the winter Pacific North American (PNA) pattern based on three winter climate sensitive tree ring records from the western USA. Positive PNA phases in our record are associated with warm phases of ENSO and PDO and the reorganization of the PNA pattern towards a positive mode is strongest when ENSO and PDO are in phase. Regime shifts in our PNA rec...