Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Rapid Colorimetric Assays to Qualitatively Distinguish RNA and DNA in Biomolecular Samples
Published on: February 4, 2013
Fast and easy colorimetric tests for single mismatch recognition by PNA-DNA duplexes with the
Tullia Tedeschi1, Stefano Sforza, Sheng Ye
1Department of Organic and Industrial Chemistry, University of Parma, Viale G.P. Usberti 17/A, I-43100, Parma, Italy.
Abstract:
The 3,3'-diethylthiacarbocyanine (DiSC(2)(5)) dye is able to aggregate on full matched PNA-DNA duplexes by changing its absorption properties, which are manifested by an instantaneous colour shift from blue to purple. However the spontaneous aggregation of the dye also on mismatched duplexes and even on free PNA strands makes the test quite aspecific. Here it is demonstrated that the addition of succinyl-beta-cyclodextrin (Succ-beta-CyD) to the solutions containing PNA-DNA duplexes and the dye strongly enhances the specificity of the colour shift, allowing for a fast, very specific and extremely sensitive visual recognition of mismatches in DNA strands by using PNA probes in combination with the DiSC(2)(5) dye. The phenomenon has been studied by CD and NMR spectroscopies. The method has been optimized and preliminarily applied for the recognition of an apoE gene mutation in human DNA samples.
More Related Videos
10:01The Visual Colorimetric Detection of Multi-nucleotide Polymorphisms on a Pneumatic Droplet Manipulation Platform
Published on: September 27, 2016
09:04Sequence-specific and Selective Recognition of Double-stranded RNAs over Single-stranded RNAs by Chemically Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids
Published on: September 21, 2017