Metal-dependent activity control of a compact-sized 8–17 DNAzyme based on metal-mediated unnatural base pairing

Abstract

A compact 8–17 DNAzyme was modified with a Cu^II-meditated artificial base pair to develop a metal-responsive allosteric DNAzyme. The base sequence was rationally designed based on the reported three-dimensional structure. The activity of the modified DNAzyme was enhanced 5.1-fold by the addition of one equivalent of Cu^II ions, showing good metal responsiveness. Since it has been challenging to modify compactly folded DNAzymes without losing their activity, this study demonstrates the utility of the metal-mediated artificial base pairing to create stimuli-responsive functional DNAs.