Phospholipid membrane permeability of peptide nucleic acid.

Phospholipid vesicles (liposomes) as membrane models have been used to study the penetration properties of peptide nucleic acid (PNA), a new DNA analog in which the nucleobases are attached to a pseudo-peptide backbone. The liposomes were characterised by carboxyfluorescein efflux, light-scattering and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. The liposome structure was found not to be affected by the incorporation of PNA or an oligonucleotide. Two 10-mer fluorescein-labelled PNAs were found to have low efflux rates (half-times of 5.5 and 11 days), comparable to that of a 10-mer oligonucleotide (half-time of 7 days). We conclude that passive diffusion of unmodified PNA over the lipid membrane is not likely to be an effective way of transport into biological cells.