Cγ-Aminopropylene peptide nucleic acid (amp-PNA): chiral cationic PNAs with superior PNA:DNA/RNA duplex stability and cellular uptake

Abstract

Inherently cationic and chiral Cγ-aminopropylene peptide nucleic acid (amp-PNA) have been synthesized with three carbon spacer chain from the backbone. The modified amp-PNAs have shown to stabilize (ΔTm) the PNA:DNA duplexes better than that of corresponding PNA:RNA duplexes. However, the PNA:RNA duplexes have higher thermal stability (Tm) compared to PNA:DNA duplexes for both modified and unmodified PNAs. The live cell imaging of amp-PNAs demonstrated their effective penetration inside the MCF-7 cells and found to be accumulated in the vicinity of the nuclear membrane in the cytoplasm.