New Catalytic DNA Biosensors for Radionuclides and Metal ions

In vitro selection for DNAzymes that are catalytically active with UO22+ ions as the metal cofactor has been completed. The 10th generation pool of DNA was cloned and sequenced. A total of 84 clones were sequenced and placed into families based on sequence alignments. Selected members of each family were 5-labeled with 32P and amplified using PCR. Activity assays were conducted using the isotopically labeled DNAzymes in order to determine which sequences were the most active. The secondary structures of the two most active sequences, called Clone 13 and Clone 39, were determined using the computer program Mfold. A cleavage rate of approximately 1 min-1 in the presence of 10 uM UO22+ was observed for both clones. Clone 39 was determined to be the best candidate for truncation to create a trans-cleaving DNAzyme, based on its secondary structure. An enzyme strand, called 39E, and a substrate strand, called 39DS, were designed by truncating the cis-cleaving DNAzyme. An alternative enzyme strand, called 39Ec, was also assayed with the 39DS substrate. This strand was designed so that the two binding arms were perfectly complimentary, unlike 39E, which formed three mismatched base pairs with 39DS. Both 39E and 39Ec were found to be active, with a rate of approximately 1 min-1 in the presence of 10 uM UO22+. A preliminary UO22+ binding curve was obtained for the 39Ec/39DS trans-cleaving system. The enzyme is active with UO22+ concentrations as low as 1 nM. Based on the preliminary binding curve data, the apparent UO22+ binding constant is approximately 330 nM, and kmax is approximately 1 min-1