title: DNAzyme-based biosensors and nanodevices.
abstract: DNAzymes, screened through in vitro selection, have shown great promise as molecular tools in the design of biosensors and nanodevices. The catalytic activities of DNAzymes depend specifically on cofactors and show multiple enzymatic turnover properties, which make DNAzymes both versatile recognition elements and outstanding signal amplifiers. Combining nanomaterials with unique optical, magnetic and electronic properties, DNAzymes may yield novel fluorescent, colorimetric, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), electrochemical and chemiluminescent biosensors. Moreover, some DNAzymes have been utilized as functional components to perform arithmetic operations or as "walkers" to move along DNA tracks. DNAzymes can also function as promising therapeutics, when designed to complement target mRNAs or viral RNAs, and consequently lead to down-regulation of protein expression. This feature article focuses on the most significant achievements in using DNAzymes as recognition elements and signal amplifiers for biosensors, and highlights the applications of DNAzymes in logic gates, DNA walkers and nanotherapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China. xbzhang@hnu.edu.cn syhuan@hnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Zilong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yi-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Shuang-Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Huan
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Xiao-Bing
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guo-Li
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Ru-Qin
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D021881:DNA, Catalytic / Q000378:metabolism*; D036103:Nanotechnology
chemical_list: D021881:DNA, Catalytic