Synthesis and oligodeoxynucleotide binding properties of pyrrolidinyl peptide nucleic acids bearing prolyl-2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) backbones

A series of novel conformationally rigid pyrrolidinyl peptide nucleic acids (PNA) based on d-prolyl-2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) backbones has been synthesized. Investigation of the binding properties of four stereoisomeric PNAs possessing different stereochemistry at the ACPC part with DNA revealed that a precise stereochemistry of the backbone is very important in determining the binding properties. Only the PNA containing (1S,2S)-ACPC can form a very stable 1:1 complex with the complementary DNA in a sequence-specific manner.