Brief communication: stability and catalytic activity of novel circular DNAzymes.

Unlabelled: DNAzymes represent a new generation of catalytic nucleic acids for specific RNA targeting in order to inhibit protein translation from the specifically cleaved mRNA. The 10-23 DNAzyme was found to hydrolyze RNA in a sequence-specific manner both in vitro and in vivo. Although single-stranded DNAzymes may represent the most effective nucleic acid drug to date, they are nevertheless sensitive to nuclease degradation and require modifications for in vivo application.