CRB becomes Panagene distributor

Cambridge Research Biochemicals (CRB) has signed an agreement with Panagene to become the UK distributor for high purity peptide nucleic acids (PNA) oligomers.

PNAs are synthetic analogues of DNA, and are available in quantities ranging from 50 nmole to gram-scale. They are synthesised on solid phase using Panagene's patented BTS chemistry and have many applications in bio-procedures, diagnostics, and antigene therapies.

Panagene has the worldwide exclusive license obtained from the Copenhagen Inventor Group (CIG) that invented custom PNA in 1991. CRB also offers custom PNA labelled with a variety of reporter molecules such as fluorescent dyes and Biotin.

PNA oligomers are able to form very stable complexes with complementary DNA and RNA. They are also resistant to nucleases (and proteases) and so are potentially ideal reagents for antisense and antigene applications. Labelled PNAs also have applications in molecular diagnostics and as probes in microarrays.

Although PNAs work well in cell free systems, poor cellular uptake can limit their use in the regulation of gene expression in cell culture and in vivo. The conjugation of PNA to peptides, to lipophilic molecules and to cell-specific receptor ligands offers new ways to surmount this problem.

'We are continually aiming to expand our product offering to our customers," said Emily Humphrys, commercial director at CRB. "This latest deal adds custom PNA synthesis, catalogue PNA monomers and custom PNA microarrays to our already extensive portfolio of custom peptide synthesis offering.'