Metal-Containing Peptide Nucleic Acids

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This Research award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports work by Professor Achim at Carnegie Mellon University to synthesize hybrid inorganic-peptide nucleic acid (PNA) structures. PNA is a synthetic analogue of DNA that has a pseudo-peptide backbone to which nucleobases are attached. The comparative study of the structure and thermodynamics of formation of non-modified and ligand-modified PNA duplexes, in the absence and presence of metal ions is used to create metal-containing PNAs capable of undergoing structural changes in response to external stimuli. This research developed at the interface between bio-organic and -inorganic chemistry offers to undergraduate and graduate students a unique opportunity to learn about both research fields. The students in the Achim group interact with research groups in the Center for Nucleic Acids Science and Technology at Carnegie Mellon, which exposes them to a broad range of tools for the synthesis and characterization of nucleic acids and gives them a wide perspective of chemistry. The hybrid inorganic-PNA structures synthesized have relevance and potential applications in nanotechnology and molecular electronics.