Metal-Containing Peptide Nucleic Acids

无机化学、生物无机化学和金属有机化学项目的这一研究奖支持卡内基梅隆大学的阿希姆教授合成无机-肽核酸(PNA)混合结构的工作。PNA是一种人工合成的DNA类似物，它具有连接有核苷酸碱基的伪肽骨架。在金属离子存在和不存在的情况下，对未修饰和配体修饰的PNA双链的结构和形成的热力学进行比较研究，以创建能够响应外部刺激而经历结构变化的含金属的PNA。这项研究是在生物有机化学和无机化学之间进行的，为本科生和研究生提供了一个了解这两个研究领域的独特机会。Achim小组的学生与卡内基梅隆大学核酸科学与技术中心的研究小组进行互动，这使他们接触到一系列用于核酸合成和表征的工具，并使他们有了广阔的化学前景。所合成的无机-PNA杂化结构在纳米技术和分子电子学方面具有重要的意义和潜在的应用前景。

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.