Cleaving Folded RNA with DNAzyme Agents.

Cleavage of biological mRNA by DNAzymes (Dz) has been proposed as a variation of oligonucleotide gene therapy (OGT). The design of Dz-based OGT agents includes computational prediction of two RNA-binding arms with low affinity (melting temperatures (T ) close to the reaction temperature of 37 °C) to avoid product inhibition and maintain high specificity. However, RNA cleavage might be limited by the RNA binding step especially if the RNA is folded in secondary structures.