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Epigenetic inactivation of genes plays a critical role in many important human diseases, especially in cancer. A core mechanism for epigenetic inactivation of the genes is methylation of CpG islands in genome DNA, which is catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). The inhibition of DNMTs may lead to demethylation and expression of the silenced tumor suppressor genes. Although DNMT inhibitors are currently being developed as potential anticancer agents, only limited success is achieved due to substantial toxicity. Here, we utilized a multiplex selection system to generate efficient RNA-cleaving DNAzymes targeting DNMT1. The lead molecule from the selection was shown to possess efficient kinetic profiles and high efficiency in inhibiting the enzyme activity. Transfection of the DNAzyme caused significant down-regulation of DNMT1 expression and reactivation of p16 gene, resulting in reduced cell proliferation of bladder cancers. This study provides an alternative for targeting DNMTs for potential cancer therapy.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.04.033 | DOI Listing |
J Am Chem Soc
September 2025
College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China.
The in-depth integration of gene regulation with protein modulation can enhance cellular information processing, yet it is significantly constrained by ineffective and complex protein-to-gene transduction strategies. Herein, we developed a simple protease-guided autocatalytic gene silencing platform named iPAD (intelligent peptide-programmed deoxyribonuclease) that converts the protease recognition events into versatile DNA readout signals by rationally designing a native protease-responsive cationic peptide (PP) to efficiently modulate the DNAzyme (Dz) activity. Without requiring additional chemical modifications, the multifunctional PP regulator consists simply of one cell-specific targeting peptide segment and two cationic peptide segments isolated by one protease-specific peptide substrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Pharmacol
September 2025
Department of Biosciences, JIS University, 81, Nilgunj Road, Agarpara, Kolkata, West Bengal 700109, India. Electronic address:
The malignant manifestation of breast cancer is driven by complex molecular alterations that extend beyond genetic mutations to include epigenetic dysregulation. Among these, DNA methylation is a critical and reversible epigenetic modification that significantly influences breast cancer initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance. This process, mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), involves the addition of methyl groups to cytosine residues within CpG dinucleotides, resulting in transcriptional repression of genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Chem
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Energy, Discipline of Intelligent Instrument and Equipment, State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361
Rolling circle amplification (RCA) has revolutionized nucleic acid detection owing to its isothermal simplicity. However, over two decades of clinical application have been hampered by off-target amplification and incompatibility with double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Herein, a strategy, specifically cleavage of rationally designed DNA/RNA chimeric hairpin preprimer by dsDNA-targeted CRISPR/Cas12a to rlease ssRNA for initiating RCA (SCOPE-RCA), is proposed for nucleic acid identification of African swine fever virus (ASFV).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Synth Biol
September 2025
Department of BioSciences, Rice University, MS-140, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
Microbes can be programmed to record participation in gene transfer by coding biological-recording devices into mobile DNA. Upon DNA uptake, these devices transcribe a catalytic RNA (cat-RNA) that binds to conserved sequences within ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and perform a trans-splicing reaction that adds a barcode to the rRNAs. Existing cat-RNA designs were generated to be broad-host range, providing no control over the organisms that were barcoded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Chem
September 2025
Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research (iAIR), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, P. R. China.
Compared with efficient anodic luminol electrochemiluminescence (ECL), the disadvantage of cathodic ECL is that luminol cannot be electrochemically oxidized in a direct manner, and the conversion efficiency of dissolved oxygen (DO) as the coreactant to reactive oxygen species (ROS) is poor, which limits its application. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a functional catalyst suitable for the luminol-DO ECL system to directly trigger cathodic ECL. In this study, a coordination microenvironment modulation strategy was proposed.
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