Answer to Question #339463 in Genetics for acey

Question

Consider how DNA transcription is controlled. How could a PNA be used to serve a similar function?

Answer 1

DNA transcription is controlled by mechanisms such as:

• the attachment of inhibitors to promoters, as a result of which RNA polymerase does not attach to these promoters;
• destruction of the newly formed RNA chain with the participation of microRNAs and small interfering RNAs;
• hybridization of part of the DNA with some other molecules, which stops the synthesis of RNA at this site.

An example of such molecules from the last paragraph are PNAs, which are hydrides of peptides and nucleic acids and which can form complexes with the nucleic acids themselves. PNA, when hybridized with one or another region of DNA, interferes with the prolongation of RNA synthesis and thereby stops transcription at this site.