Locked nucleic acid

LNA ( locked nucleic acid engl. ) is a modified RNA nucleotide. The ribose moiety of an LNA nucleotide is associated with an additional bond between the 2'- oxygen and 4 'carbon. Thereby, the ribose is attached in the 3 ' endo (northern ) conformation, and is structurally more rigid than the unmodified analogue. This significantly increases the hybridization properties (melting point ), and the affinity for the base stacking.

LNAs were independent of Takeshi Imanishi et al for the first time. and Jesper Wengel et al.synthetisiert.

A Danish biotech company ( Exiqon A / S) has secured exclusive rights to the LNA technology in 1997.

Benefits

These modified blocks can be used like ordinary nucleosides in the solid phase synthesis. Some of the advantages of the LNA technology:

  • Ideal for the detection of short RNA and DNA targets
  • Increasing the thermal stability
  • Complete resistance against exo-and endonucleases (hence high stability in vivo and in vitro applications )
  • Increased target specificity
  • Compatibility with standardized enzyme processes
Digital Object Identifier
526684
de