Adjusting the Structure of a Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) Molecular Beacon and Promoting Its DNA Detection by a Hybrid with Quencher-Modified DNA

In this study, we performed an elaborate adjustment of the structure of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) molecular beacons as probes for detecting nucleic acids. We synthesized the PNA beacons with various numbers of Glu, Lys, and dabcyl (Dab) quenchers in them, and we investigated their fluorescence changes (F-1/1/F-0) with and without full-match DNA. As the numbers of Glu/Lys or Dab increased, the F-1/1/F-0 tended to decrease. Among the different beacons, the PNA beacon with one Glu and one Lys (P1Q1) showed the largest F-1/1/F-0. On the other hand, a relatively large F-1/1/F-0 was obtained when the number of Glu/Lys and the number of Dab were the same, and the balance between the numbers of Glu/Lys and Dab seemed to affect the F-1/1/F-0. We also investigated the DNA detection by the prehybrid of P1Q1, which consists of the T790M base sequence, [P1Q1(T790M)], with quencher-modified DNA (Q-DNA). We examined the DNA detection with single-base mismatch by P1Q1(T790M), and we clarified that there was difficulty in detecting the sequence with P1Q1 alone, but that the sequence was successfully detected by the prehybrid of P1Q1 with the Q-DNA.

Automated summary

In this study, the structure of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) molecular beacons as probes for detecting nucleic acids was adjusted. The fluorescence changes of PNA beacons with different numbers of Glu, Lys, and dabcyl (Dab) quenchers were investigated. The results showed that the number of Glu/Lys or Dab had an impact on the fluorescence changes, and the prehybrid of P1Q1 with Q-DNA was able to successfully detect DNA sequences.