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Updated: May 12, 2026

DNA-Tethered RNA Polymerase for Programmable In vitro Transcription and Molecular Computation
Published on: December 29, 2021
Synthesis of a new conjugated polymer for DNA alkylation and gene regulation
Chenyao Nie1, Chunlei Zhu, Liheng Feng
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P R China.
Abstract:
A new polyfluorene derivative containing pendent alkylating chlorambucil (PFP-Cbl) was synthesized and characterized. Under direct incubation with DNA in vitro, PFP-Cbl could undergo an efficient DNA alkylating reaction and induce DNA cross-linking. In vitro transcription and translation experiment exhibited that the PFP-Cbl significantly down-regulated the gene expression of luciferase reporter plasmid. The down-regulation of gene expression was also verified through the transfection experiment of p-EGFP plasmid, which showed decreased green fluorescent protein (GFP) in cells. Meanwhile, the self-luminous property of PFP-Cbl could make it able to trace the internalized PFP-Cbl and plasmid complexes resulted from cross-linking in cells by fluorescent microscopy. Combining the features of alkylating function, multivalent binding sites, and fluorescent characteristics, PFP-Cbl provides a new insight in the area of gene regulation and extends the new applications of conjugated polymers (CPs).
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