Aptazymes: Expanding the Specificity of Natural Catalytic Nucleic Acids by Application of In Vitro Selected Oligonucleotides.

Aptazymes: Expanding the Specificity of Natural Catalytic Nucleic Acids by Application of In Vitro Selected Oligonucleotides.
Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol. 2019 Mar 08;:
Authors: Walter JG, Stahl F
Abstract
Aptazymes are synthetic molecules composed of an aptamer domain and a catalytic active nucleic acid unit, which may be a ribozyme or a DNAzyme. In these constructs the aptamer domain serves as a molecular switch that can regulate the catalytic activity of the ribozyme or DNAzyme subunit. This regulation is triggered by binding of the aptamers target molecule, which causes significant structural changes in the aptamer and thus in the entire aptazyme. Therefore, aptazymes function similar to allosteric enzymes, whose catalytic activity is regulated by binding of ligands (effectors) to allosteric sites due to alteration of the three-dimensional structure of the active site of the enzyme. In case of aptazymes, the allosteric site is composed of an aptamer. Aptazymes can be designed for different applications and have already been used in analytical assays as well as for the regulation of gene expression. Graphical Abstract.
PMID: 30847536 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Advances in Biochemical Engineering Biotechnology - March 7, 2019 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Walter JG, Stahl F Tags: Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol Source Type: research