Synthesis of peptide nucleic acids containing a crosslinking agent and evaluation of their reactivities

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are structural mimics of nucleic acids that form stable hybrids with DNA and RNA. In addition, PNAs can invade double-stranded DNA. Due to these characteristics, PNAs are widely used as biochemical tools, for example, in antisense/antigene therapy. Interstrand crosslink formation in nucleic acids is one of the strategies for preparing a stable duplex by covalent bond formation. In this study, we have synthesized PNAs incorporating 4-amino-6-oxo-2-vinylpyrimidine (AOVP) as a crosslinking agent and evaluated their reactivities for targeting DNA and RNA.