Sequence-specific imaging of influenza A mRNA in living infected cells using fluorescent FIT-PNA.

Significant efforts have been devoted to the development of techniques allowing the investigation of viral mRNA progression during the replication cycle. We herein describe the use of sequence-specific FIT-PNA (Forced Intercalation Peptide Nucleic Acids) probes which contain a single intercalator serving as an artificial fluorescent nucleobase. FIT-PNA probes are not degraded by enzymes, neither by nucleases nor by proteases, and provide for both high sensitivity and high target specificity under physiological conditions inside the infected living host cell.