Abstract
Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) are DNA/RNA synthetic analogs with
2-((2-Aminoethyl) amino) acetic acid backbone. PNA has replaced DNA as a
probe in various pre-existing techniques and currently is a prominent
biomolecular tool for genetic diagnosis, cytogenetics, and
pharmaceutical applications. PNAs physicobiochemical properties make
them resistant to enzymatic cleavage and do not degrade in biological
conditions. PNA partakes unique antisense and antigene properties, just
due to its inhibitory effect on transcription and translation, and
undergo complementary binding to RNA/DNA with high affinity and
specificity. Hence, to date, many methods utilizing PNA for the
detection and treatment of various diseases such as cancer, AIDS, etc.
have been designed and developed. PNA is used for PCR reaction
modulation/mutation, in fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) and
microarray as a probe, also in many in-vitro and in-vivo assays, and in
the development of micro and nano-sized biosensor/chip/array
technologies. Earlier reviews focused only on PNA properties, structure
and modifications related to diagnostics and therapeutics; our review
emphasizes not only on PNA properties but also on its potential
applications in diagnosis and therapeutics, along with its prospects in
biomedical applications.