A locked nucleic acid (LNA) is a modified RNA nucleotide. LNA increases the thermal stability (melting temperature) of oligonucleotides. This can be used to increase the sensitivity and specificity of expression DNA microarrays, FISH probes and other techniques based on oligonucleotides. For the detection of miRNA the use of LNA is currently (2005) the only efficient method. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid consisting of a string of covalently-bound nucleotides. ... A nucleotide is a monomer or the structural unit of nucleotide chains forming nucleic acids as RNA and DNA. A nucleotide consists of a heterocyclic nucleobase, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate or polyphosphate group. ... Oligonucleotides are short sequences of nucleotides (RNA or DNA), typically with twenty or fewer base pairs. ... A DNA microarray, the different colours indicate relative expression of different genes. ... In genetics, a miRNA (micro-RNA) is a form of single-stranded RNA which is typically 20-25 nucleotides long, and is thought to regulate the expression of other genes. ...

External links

• A predicter for the physical properties of LNA modified oligonucleotides (http://lnatools.com)
• LNA (locked nucleic acid): high-affinity targeting of complementary RNA and DNA (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15491130)
• LNA: a versatile tool for therapeutics and genomics (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12573856)
• Alternative Nucleic Acid Analogues for Programmable Assembly: Hybridization of LNA to PNA (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/nalefd/2005/5/i01/abs/nl048246f.html)