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

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.