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Locked Nucleic Acid

Locked nucleic acids (also called LNA) are modified RNA nucleotides that increase the thermal stability of oligonucleotides. Structurally, they are RNA mimics. In practical use, they have shown promise in increasing sensitivity and specificity of a number of probing tests like FISH. Currently, the use of locked nucleic acids are the only practical method to detect miRNA.

Locked nucleic acids are very promising in the study of oligonucleotides, particularly in very specific fields like cancer. Locked nucleic acids have efficiently suppressed telomerase activity in cells (a critical task for cancer fighting on a genetic level) and have prevented Tat-dependent transcription, and thus the spread of cancers. Locked nucleic acids have been used to modify DNAzymes to create LNAzymes, and these have been shown highly useful in efficiently cleaving highly structured RNA.

Locked nucleic acids have wide application for gene silencing as well as research and diagnostics; they can be used as a delivery system that stabilizes short strands of RNA as well. They are easily hybridizable, and show some real promise in many different fields of biological and technological study.

Web Resources On Locked Nucleic Acid

Locked Nucleic Acid Phosphoramidites
Locked Nucleic Acids (LNA)

Book Resources On Locked Nucleic Acid

Nucleic Acids: Structures, Properties, and Functions by Victor A. Bloomfield
Frontiers in Nucleic Acid Chemistry by M. Volkan Kisakürek (Ed)

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