Dnazyme

Deoxyribozymes are catalytically active DNA sequences.

In addition to its well-known role as a carrier of genetic information, DNA, like many proteins or like ribozymes from RNA, is also capable of being enzymatically active and catalysing chemical reactions. Since the first report on a deoxyribozyme in 1994, a large number of catalytically active DNA enzymes have been identified. For example, a deoxyribozyme that cleaves thymidine dimers formed by UV light has been developed in vitro. Thus, the excision repair removes the damaged strand and replaces it with new DNA.

In contrast to catalytic proteins and RNAs, deoxyribozymes have so far not been found in living cells.

DNA enzymes are produced artificially by filtering out those enzymatically active DNA strands from a multitude of individual DNA strands. For example, deoxyribozymes can be used to cut out RNA molecules at a defined site or to link two RNAs together (McManus SA et al. 2013). There is hope that DNAzymes can also be used for medical purposes, for example to specifically switch off genes involved in diseases (Dastjerdi-Khorzoghi P et al. 2019).

1. Dastjerdi-Khorzoghi P et al (2019) Targeting a viral DNA sequence with a deoxyribozyme in a preparative scale. Biochemistry 165:161-169.