LAUSR

DNAzymes are DNA molecules capable of catalytic activity. The catalytic core of DNAzymes can be separated and conjugated with target binding arms to create allosteric DNAzymes known as multi-component nucleic acid enzymes (MNAzymes). Two widely used DNAzymes are the 10-23 and the 8-17 DNAzymes. These DNAzymes differ in catalytic core structures, cleavage sites, and reactive metal ion cofactors. Previously we showed that the presence of a cationic comb-type polymer poly(l-lysine)-graft-dextran (PLL-g-Dex) improved activities of the 10-23 DNAzyme and MNAzyme by facilitating assembly of the catalytic complex. In this work, we demonstrate that PLL-g-Dex enhances activities of the 8-17 DNAzyme and MNAzyme; poly(allylamine)-graft-dextran and cationic homopolymers did not enhance activities. Metal ion and pH dependences were observed in the presence of PLL-g-Dex, suggesting that the cationic copolymer did not impede the interaction between the metal ion and the DNA-based enzymes. Thus, PLL-g-Dex has chaperone-like activity for DNAzymes and MNAzymes regardless of structures, cleavage sites, and cofactors.