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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Detection of Bacteria Using Fluorogenic DNAzymes
Published on: May 28, 2012
Metal-dependent activity control of a compact-sized 8-17 DNAzyme based on metal-mediated unnatural base pairing
Yusuke Takezawa1, Lingyun Hu1, Takahiro Nakama1
1Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. takezawa@chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Abstract:
A compact 8-17 DNAzyme was modified with a CuII-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 CuII 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.
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