title: DNAzymes: cutting a path to a new class of therapeutics.
abstract: DNAzymes are synthetic catalytic deoxyribonucleic acid molecules that can be engineered to bind to their complementary sequence in the target nucleic acid through Watson-Crick base pairing and cleave at predetermined phosphodiester linkages. This article reviews the recent use of DNAzymes as probes of molecular function and their potential applications in clinical medicine.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Thrombosis and Vascular Research, Department of Pathology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. L. Khachigian@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Levon M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Khachigian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015342:DNA Probes; D021881:DNA, Catalytic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D021881:DNA, Catalytic