Enhancing Peptide Nucleic Acid-Nanomaterial Interaction and Performance Improvement of Peptide Nucleic Acid-Based
Kriangsak Faikhruea1, Ilada Choopara2, Naraporn Somboonna2
1Organic Synthesis Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
ACS Applied Bio Materials
|February 4, 2022
Summary
Electrostatic effects significantly enhance peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probe interactions with nanomaterials for sensitive nucleic acid detection. This enables improved fluorescence and colorimetric assays for DNA and RNA, even in living cells.
Area of Science:
- Nanomaterials science
- Biotechnology
- Analytical chemistry
Background:
- Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes exhibit strong interactions with nanomaterials, forming the basis for nucleic acid sensing platforms.
- The role of electrostatic effects in PNA-nanomaterial interactions has been largely overlooked, despite PNA's tunable charge properties.
- Conventional DNA probes have limitations in sensitivity and specificity for certain nucleic acid detection applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the contribution of electrostatic effects to the interaction between PNA probes and various nanomaterials.
- To develop enhanced fluorescence and colorimetric sensing platforms for nucleic acid detection using PNA-nanomaterial interactions.
- To demonstrate the application of these sensing platforms for detecting real DNA and RNA samples in vitro and in living cells.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing dye-labeled, conformationally constrained pyrrolidinyl PNA probes.
- Investigating interactions with nanomaterials such as graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and silver nanoparticles.
- Developing fluorescence and colorimetric assays based on PNA-nanomaterial interactions and target-induced inhibition of these interactions.
Main Results:
- Electrostatic effects were found to substantially enhance the quenching of PNA probes by nanomaterials.
- Fluorescence quenching and AuNP aggregation-induced color changes were inhibited by complementary nucleic acid targets.
- The developed assays demonstrated high sensitivity, distinguishing single-base-mismatched nucleic acids.
- Successful application of GO- and AuNP-based platforms for detecting DNA and RNA in vitro and in living cells.
Conclusions:
- Electrostatic effects play a crucial role in PNA-nanomaterial interactions, significantly improving sensing capabilities.
- PNA-nanomaterial based assays offer improved sensitivity and specificity over conventional DNA probes for nucleic acid detection.
- The developed sensing platforms are robust and applicable for real-world biological sample analysis, including in vivo applications.
