title: A Catalytic DNA Activated by a Specific Strain of Bacterial Pathogen.
abstract: Pathogenic strains of bacteria are known to cause various infectious diseases and there is a growing demand for molecular probes that can selectively recognize them. Here we report a special DNAzyme (catalytic DNA), RFD-CD1, that shows exquisite specificity for a pathogenic strain of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). RFD-CD1 was derived by an in vitro selection approach where a random-sequence DNA library was allowed to react with an unpurified molecular mixture derived from this strain of C. difficle, coupled with a subtractive selection strategy to eliminate cross-reactivities to unintended C. difficile strains and other bacteria species. RFD-CD1 is activated by a truncated version of TcdC, a transcription factor, that is unique to the targeted strain of C. difficle. Our study demonstrates for the first time that in vitro selection offers an effective approach for deriving functional nucleic acid probes that are capable of achieving strain-specific recognition of bacterial pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.|School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China.
authors.forename: Zhifa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Zaisheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Dingran
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Wenqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Kha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tram
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, St Joseph's Healthcare, McMaster University, 50 Charlton Ave E, 424 Luke Wing, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 4A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Bruno J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Salena
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada. liying@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Yingfu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D021881:DNA, Catalytic / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D021881:DNA, Catalytic
keywords: DNAzymes; aptamers; bacterial detection; biosensors; in vitro selection