Abstract
(Figure Presented). We designed an in vitro signal amplification circuit that takes a short RNA input that catalytically activates the Spinach RNA aptamer to produce a fluorescent output. The circuit consists of three RNA strands: an internally blocked Spinach aptamer, a fuel strand, and an input strand (catalyst), as well as the Spinach aptamer ligand 3,5-difluoro-4-hydroxylbenzylidene imidazolinone (DFHBI). The input strand initially displaces the internal inhibitory strand to activate the fluorescent aptamer while exposing a toehold to which the fuel strand can bind to further displace and recycle the input strand. Under a favorable condition, one input strand was able to activate up to five molecules of the internally blocked Spinach aptamer in 185 min at 30 °C. The simple RNA circuit reported here serves as a model for catalytic activation of arbitrary RNA effectors by chemical triggers.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 655-658 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | ACS Synthetic Biology |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 15 2015 |
Keywords
- RNA circuit
- RNA engineering
- signal amplification
- Spinach aptamer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)
- Biomedical Engineering