Publicaties

Orthogonal nucleic acids are chemically modified nucleic acid polymers that are unable to transfer information with natural nucleic acids and thus can be used in synthetic biology to store and transfer genetic information independently. Recently, it was proposed that xylose-DNA (dXNA) can be considered to be a potential candidate for an orthogonal system. Herein, we present the structure in solution and conformational analysis of two ...

We have designed a pair of biotinylated peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes targeting two sequences in 18S rRNA (from the parasite Trypanosoma brucei) at a distance of 191 nt (corresponding to maximum distance of ca. 60 nm) from each other. The PNA probes were individually bound to (strept)avidin-coated fluorescent beads, differing in size and color [green beads (1 microm) and red beads (5.9 microm)], thereby allowing distinct detection of each ...

The generation of PNA-decorated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has revealed to be more difficult as compared to the generation of DNA-functionalized ones. The less polar nature of this artificial nucleic acid system and the associated tendency of the neutral poly-amidic backbone to aspecifically adsorb onto the gold surface rather than forming a covalent bond through gold-thiol interaction, combined with the low solubility of PNAs itself, form the ...

The present study investigated the effects of the combined treatment of two peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), directed against microRNAs involved in caspase-3 mRNA regulation (miR-155-5p and miR-221-3p) in the temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant T98G glioma cell line. These PNAs were conjugated with an octaarginine tail in order to obtain an efficient delivery to treated cells. The effects of singularly administered PNAs or a combined treatment with both ...

A new approach to detection of proteins and DNA based on the use of electrodes shielded by thin liquid organic film is proposed. The possibility of electrochemical registration of proteins, due to their extraction into organic medium is demonstrated. The effect is useful for protein analytical determination. Using shielded electrodes, a new method of label-free electrochemical DNA registering was elaborated. High sensitivity sufficient to ...

Xenobiotic nucleic acids (XNA) are nucleic acid analogues not present in nature that can be used for the storage of genetic information. In vivo XNA applications could be developed into novel biocontainment strategies, but are currently limited by the challenge of developing XNA processing enzymes such as polymerases, ligases and nucleases. Here, we present a structure-guided modelling-based strategy for the rational design of those enzymes ...

Title: "Structural and biochemical evaluation of natural and modified Nucleic Acids and their interactions with drugs and biomolecules for th erapeutic and synthetic biology application" Deoxyribo and ribo nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are the two key players i nvolved in the central dogma of molecular biology (DNA to RNA&nbs p;to Protein). Generally, DNA acts as the storage of genetic information while RNA molecules for long time are being ...

Fungal infections, ranging from superficial to life-threatening infections, represent a major public health problem that affects 25% of the worldwide population. In this context, the study of host-pathogen interactions within the host is crucial to advance antifungal therapy. However, since fungal cells are usually outnumbered by host cells, the fungal transcriptome frequently remains uncovered. We compared three different methods to selectively ...

It is argued that genetic proliferation should be rationally extended so as to enable the propagation in vivo of additional types of nucleic acids (XNA for 'xeno-nucleic acids'), whose chemical backbone motifs would differ from deoxyribose and ribose, and whose polymerization would not interfere with DNA and RNA biosynthesis. Because XNA building blocks do not occur in nature, they would have to be synthesized and supplied to cells which would ...