Detection of peptide nucleic acids in tissue extracts of treated animals by gel mobility shift assay.

We have developed a sensitive and reproducible gel mobility shift assay to detect PNA oligomers in tissue of treated animals. PNA present in purified tissue extracts of treated animals is hybridized to a 33P-labelled DNA oligomer probe, and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The PNA-DNA hybrid migrates more slowly than the DNA probe alone and can be quantified relative to a standard curve. This detection method is useful for detecting PNAs in many different tissues, including brain, heart, kidney, liver, spleen, and serum, as well as cells in culture.