| abstract |
The present invention relates to peptide-based nucleic acid surrogates (PNAs) having a repeating structure of (AAB-aan)m and a particular secondary structure that can bind to particular single-stranded nucleic acid targets. Preferably the peptide-based nucleic acid surrogate has an alpha-helical secondary structure (αPNA). Also, the present invention relates to the method of forming peptide-based nucleic acid surrogates having a particular secondary structure. The nucleic acid surrogates may be utilized for therapeutic (antisense, antigene), diagnostic (genetic), and molecular switching (αPNA chips) applications. |