Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Sheppard TL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC16625 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Sheppard T L TL Ordoukhanian P P Joyce G F GF
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20000701 14
In vitro evolution was used to develop a DNA enzyme that catalyzes the site-specific depurination of DNA with a catalytic rate enhancement of about 10(6)-fold. The reaction involves hydrolysis of the N-glycosidic bond of a particular deoxyguanosine residue, leading to DNA strand scission at the apurinic site. The DNA enzyme contains 93 nucleotides and is structurally complex. It has an absolute requirement for a divalent metal cation and exhibits optimal activity at about pH 5. The mechanism of ...[more]