The blood disorder, β-thalassaemia, is considered an attractive target for gene correction. Site-specific triplex formation has been shown to induce DNA repair and thereby catalyse genome editing. Here we report that triplex-forming peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) substituted at the γ position plus stimulation of the stem cell factor (SCF)/c-Kit pathway yielded high levels of gene editing in haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in a mouse model of human β-thalassaemia. Injection of thalassemic mice with SCF plus nanoparticles containing γPNAs and donor DNAs ameliorated the disease phenotype, with sustained elevation of blood haemoglobin levels into the normal range, reduced reticulocytosis, reversal of splenomegaly and up to 7% β-globin gene correction in HSCs, with extremely low off-target effects. The combination of nanoparticle delivery, next generation γPNAs and SCF treatment may offer a minimally invasive treatment for genetic disorders of the blood that can be achieved safely and simply by intravenous administration.

Nucleic acids are an attractive platform for organizing molecular self-assembly because of their specific nucleobase interactions and defined length scale. Routinely employed in the organization and assembly of materials in vitro, however, they have rarely been exploited in vivo, due to the concerns for enzymatic degradation and cross-hybridization with the host's genetic materials. Herein we report the development of a tight-binding, orthogonal, synthetically versatile, and informationally interfaced nucleic acid platform for programming molecular interactions, with implications for in vivo molecular assembly and computing. The system consists of three molecular entities: the right-handed and left-handed conformers and a nonhelical domain. The first two are orthogonal to each other in recognition, while the third is capable of binding to both, providing a means for interfacing the two conformers as well as the natural nucleic acid biopolymers (i.e., DNA and RNA). The three molecular entities are prepared from the same monomeric chemical scaffold, with the exception of the stereochemistry or lack thereof at the γ-backbone that determines if the corresponding oligo adopts a right-handed or left-handed helix, or a nonhelical motif. These conformers hybridize to each other with exquisite affinity, sequence selectivity, and level of orthogonality. Recognition modules as short as five nucleotides in length are capable of organizing molecular assembly.

Hybridization analysis of short DNA and RNA targets presents many challenges for detection. The commonly employed sandwich hybridization approach cannot be implemented for these short targets due to insufficient probe-target binding strengths for unmodified DNA probes. Here, we present a method capable of rapid and stable sandwich hybridization detection for 22 nucleotide DNA and RNA targets. Stable hybridization is achieved using an n-alkylated, polyethylene glycol γ-carbon modified peptide nucleic acid (γPNA) amphiphile. The γPNA's exceptionally high affinity enables stable hybridization of a second DNA-based probe to the remaining bases of the short target. Upon hybridization of both probes, an electrophoretic mobility shift is measured via interaction of the n-alkane modification on the γPNA with capillary electrophoresis running buffer containing nonionic surfactant micelles. We find that sandwich hybridization of both probes is stable under multiple binding configurations and demonstrate single base mismatch discrimination. The binding strength of both probes is also stabilized via coaxial stacking on adjacent hybridization to targets. We conclude with a discussion on the implementation of the proposed sandwich hybridization assay as a high-throughput microRNA detection method.

We report a systematic study examining two synthetic routes, reductive amination and Mitsunobu coupling, for preparation of chiral γ-peptide nucleic acid (γPNA) monomers and oligomers. We found that the reductive amination route is prone to epimerization, even under mild experimental conditions. The extent of epimerization could be minimized by utilizing a bulky protecting group such as PhFl; however, it is difficult to remove in the subsequent oligomer synthesis stage. On the other hand, we found that the Mitsunobu route produced optically superior products using standard carbamate protecting groups.

Template-directed synthesis offers several distinct benefits over conventional laboratory creation, including unsurpassed reaction rate and selectivity. Although it is central to many biological processes, such an approach has rarely been applied to the in situ synthesis and recognition of biomedically relevant target. Towards this goal, we report the development of a three-codon nucleic-acid probe containing a C-terminal thioester group and an N-terminal cysteine that is capable of undergoing template-directed oligomerization in the presence of an RNA target and self-deactivation in its absence. The work has implications for the development of millamolecular nucleic-acid probes for targeting RNA-repeated expansions associated with myotonic dystrophy type 1 and other related neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders.