$string=$line="Input sentence"; if ($line =~ /\*\*([^\*]+)\*\*\s(kinase|isoform|protein|peptide|ligand)\s\$\$([^\$]+)\$\$\s[\(\,]\s\*\*([^\*]+)\*\*\s[\)\,]/) { print "yes"; while ($line =~ /(\*\*([^\*]+)\*\*\s(kinase|isoform|protein|peptide|ligand)\s\$\$([^\$]+)\$\$\s[\(\,]\s\*\*([^\*]+)\*\*\s[\)\,])/g) { $pattern=$1; $string =~ s/(\*\*([^\*]+)\*\*\s(kinase|isoform|protein|peptide|ligand)\s\$\$([^\$]+)\$\$\s[\(\,]\s\*\*([^\*]+)\*\*\s[\)\,])/pqrstuv/; $string =~ s/\*\*//g; $string =~ s/\$\$//g; $string =~ s/pqrstuv/$pattern/; print WF "$string\n"; $string=$line; } }