Aptamers

Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acids (RNA, DNA, and modified RNA or DNA) possessing unique binding characteristics to their targets. Numerous high-affinity and highly specific aptamers have been selected against a wide variety of target molecules including small organics, peptides, proteins, and even supramolecular complexes such as viruses or cells.

DNAzymes are a special class of aptamers that display catalytic activities for certain chemical reactions. They have been employed in numerous biochemical reactions such as DNA or RNA cleavage, porphyrin metalation, and DNA self-modification. These DNA aptamers have several advantages over traditional protein enzymes such as high chemical stability, low cost, and ease of preparation and modification.Our research is focused on DNAzymes with G-quadruplex structures that mimic the function of peroxidase. We use rolling circle amplification (RCA) to synthesize DNAzyme units that can facilitate the oxidation of a fluorogen and serve as a readout for our DNA detection protocol.