Vol. k, No. 3/4 All of the different steps in these processes involving nucleic acids, including control steps, require recognition of unique sites on the nucleic acids, which may be short-lived. The packaging of polynuc1eotides into compact forms in chromatin, ribosomes, and viruses involves folding of the nucleic acids. These and other observations indicate that the deformation of polynucieot...

Circulating nucleic acids are present in the blood of humans and other vertebrates. During the last 10 years researchers actively studied cell-free nucleic acids present in plasma or serum with great expectations of their use as potential biomarkers for cancer and other pathologic conditions. In the present manuscript the main findings related to the principal characteristics of circulating nuc...

Nucleosides and nucleotides are powerful building units for creating functional molecules with novel properties. The structural and functional variations of these biomolecules have caused a renaissance of nucleic acid chemistry and biology, and paved the way for fresh avenues in nucleic acid research, including therapeutics, nucleic acid biology, structure-function studies, catalytic and mechan...

BACKGROUND Nucleic acids detection using microarrays requires labelling of target nucleic acids with fluorophores or other reporter molecules prior to hybridization. RESULTS Using surface-bound peptide nucleic acids (PNA) probes and soluble fluorescent cationic polythiophenes, we show a simple and sensitive electrostatic approach to detect and identify unlabelled target nucleic acid on microa...

Nucleic acids are attractive materials for creating functional molecules that have applications as catalysts, specific binders, and molecular switches. Nucleic acids having such functions can be obtained by random screening, typically using in vitro selection methods. These methods have helped explore the potential abilities of nucleic acids and steadily contributed to their evolution, i.e., cr...