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2007 Team 8 |
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| DNA MAKES THE CUT: CLEAVAGE OF RNA BY A DNA ENZYME
Sushanth Bhaskarabhatla, Nicole DeCredico, Mona Gossmann, Diana Huang, Advisor: Dr. Amber Charlebois |
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ABSTRACTA DNA enzyme isolated via in vitro selection can be used to cleave essentially any RNA substrate in the presence of a divalent metal cation, preferably Mg 2+ , provided that the substrate has a purine-pyrymidine junction. Practical applications exist, as some viral genomes are made of RNA and thus contain potential target sequences. H5N1 (avian flu) is one such virus, and a segment of its nucleoprotein gene sequence was successfully cleaved in this research. The results of this reaction, visualized through polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and cresyl violet staining, have implications in drug therapy for this emerging infectious disease. In addition, it was verified that Mg 2+ is not the only cation able to initiate the cleavage reaction. Ca 2+ was utilized with the same sequences, yielding enzymatic activity similar to that of the Mg 2+ reaction. |
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 Team 8 |
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