Ultrasensitive Molecular Beacon Designed with Totally Serinol Nucleic Acid (SNA) for Monitoring mRNA in Cells |
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| Authors: | Keiji Murayama Dr. Yukiko Kamiya Dr. Hiromu Kashida Prof. Dr. Hiroyuki Asanuma |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo‐cho, Chikusa‐ku, Nagoya 464‐8603 (Japan);2. Venture business laboratory (VBL), Nagoya University, Furo‐cho, Chikusa‐ku, Nagoya 464‐8603 (Japan);3. Division of Green Conversion, EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University, Furo‐cho, Chikusa‐ku, Nagoya 464‐8603 (Japan);4. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4‐1‐8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332‐0012 (Japan) |
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| Abstract: | An artificial nucleic acid based on acyclic serinol building blocks and termed “serinol nucleic acid” (SNA) was used to construct a fluorescent probe for RNA visualization in cells. The molecular beacon (MB) composed of only SNA with a fluorophore at one terminus and a quencher at the other was resistant to enzymatic digestion, due to its unnatural acyclic scaffold. The SNA‐MB could detect its complementary RNA with extremely high sensitivity; the signal‐to‐background (S/B) ratio was as high as 930 when perylene and anthraquinone were used as the fluorophore and quencher pair. A high S/B ratio was also achieved with SNA‐MB tethering the conventional Cy3 fluorophore, and this probe enabled selective visualization of target mRNA in fixed cells. Thus, SNA‐MB has potential for use as a biological tool capable of visualizing RNA in living cells. |
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| Keywords: | artificial oligonucleotides fluorescent probes nucleic acids RNA recognition SNA |
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