Inhibition of NF-κB specific transcriptional activation by PNA strand invasion

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) strand invasion offers an attractive alternative to DNA oligonucleotlde directed triplex formation as a potential tool for gene inhibition. Peptide nucleic acid has been shown to interact with duplex DNA in a process which involves strand Invasion of the duplex and binding of one of the DNA strands with two PNA oligomers. By blocking the interaction of a transcription factor with 5′ regulatory sequences, PNA might specifically down-regulate gene activity. Here we demonstrate that PNA is capable of specifically blocking interaction of the transcription factor NF-κB with the IL2-Rα NFκ-B binding site In vitro. We further demonstrate that this interaction is sufficient to prevent transcriptional transactivation both In vitro and when transfected into cells in culture.