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Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Sequence-specific and Selective Recognition of Double-stranded RNAs over Single-stranded RNAs by Chemically Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids
Published on: September 21, 2017
Stabilization of an intermolecular RNA triplex by two novel binders Lys- and Arg-rich Ru(II) polypyridyl
Juan Zhu1, Fangfang Wang1, Xiaohua Liu2
1College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
In this work, using [Ru(bpy)2(pip)]2+ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, pip = 2-phenyl-1H-imidazo[4,5-f]-[1,10]-phenanthroline) as chromophores and neutral amino acid glycine as spacers, two novel Arg- and Lys-rich Ru(II) polypyridyl metallopeptides as an intermolecular triplex RNA stabilizers, namely [Ru(bpy)2(pic-Lys2-Gly-Lys2-Gly-Lys2)]8+ (Ru1; pic = 2-(4-carboxy-phenyl)imidazo-[4,5-f] [1,10] phenanthroline, Gly = glycine, Lys = lysine) and [Ru(bpy)2(pic-Arg2-Gly-Arg2-Gly-Arg2)]8+ (Ru2; Arg = arginine), have been synthesized and characterized. The binding properties of Ru1 and Ru2 with poly(U)·poly(A)∗poly(U) triplex have been studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, viscosity measurements as well as circular dichroism and thermal denaturation. The obtained results suggest that attaching cationic peptides to a Ru(II) polypyridyl complex can obviously enhance the triplex stabilization. Considering the structure natures of Ru1 and Ru2, conceivably besides electrostatic interaction, the forces stabilizing the triplex should also involve hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen binding. Compared with the Lys-rich metallopeptide (Ru1), however, the third-strand stabilizating effect of the Arg-rich one (Ru2) is slightly more marked, which may be due to differences in the interactions of arginine and lysine residues with the third strand of the triplex. The results obtained here may be useful for understanding the interaction of triplex RNA poly(U)·poly(A)∗poly(U) with small molecule, particularly ruthenium(II) complexes.
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