Chemical approaches to discover the full potential of peptide nucleic acids in biomedical applications

• Nikita Brodyagin,
• Martins Katkevics,
• Venubabu Kotikam,
• Christopher A. Ryan and
• Eriks Rozners

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1641–1688, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.116

Design and biological characterization of novel cell-penetrating peptides preferentially targeting cell nuclei and subnuclear regions

• Anja Gronewold,
• Mareike Horn and
• Ines Neundorf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1378–1388, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.116

• ) with selective suborganelle-targeting properties. The nuclear localization sequence N50, as well as the nucleoli-targeting sequence NrTP, respectively, were fused to a shortened version of the cell-penetrating peptide sC18. We examined cellular uptake, subcellular fate and cytotoxicity of these novel

• excluded. However, initial drug delivery studies demonstrated the high versatility of these new peptides as efficient transport vectors targeting specifically nuclei and nucleoli. In future, they could be further explored as parts of newly created peptide–drug conjugates. Keywords: anticancer drugs; cell

• nuclei; cell-penetrating peptides; nucleoli; subcellular targeting; Introduction Various drugs act on targets that are located within the nucleus, the control center of the eukaryotic cell. A lipid bilayer membrane, which is perforated with nuclear pore complex structures through which the transfer of

Pyrene–nucleobase conjugates: synthesis, oligonucleotide binding and confocal bioimaging studies

• Artur Jabłoński,
• Yannic Fritz,
• Hans-Achim Wagenknecht,
• Rafał Czerwieniec,
• Tytus Bernaś,
• Damian Trzybiński,
• Krzysztof Woźniak and
• Konrad Kowalski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2521–2534, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.249

• . Confocal microscopy confirmed that 5 predominantly stains mitochondria but it also accumulates in the nucleoli of the cells. Keywords: confocal microscopy; luminescence; nucleobases; oligonucleotide binding; pyrene; X-ray; Introduction Pyrene is a planar, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon which shows well

• nucleoli. Noticeably, this pattern was not observed when the cells were labeled with 4. On the other hand fluorescence emission spectra of both compounds in cells were similar (Figure S7, Supporting Information File 1) and compatible with their counterparts registered in dichloromethane solution. This

• -like binding, intercalation, or a mixture of both. Confocal microscopy revealed a similar cellular staining pattern for compounds 4 and 5. Both derivatives predominantly accumulate in mitochondria of living HeLa cells and the adenine conjugate 5 accumulates also in the nucleoli of the cells. Our