Figure 1.

Schematic representation of DNAzyme- and siRNA-mediated degradation of target mRNA. Left: DNAzymes recognize the complementary mRNA sequence of its hybridizing arms via Watson-Crick base pairing and catalyze degradation of the target mRNA, producing two products, one containing a 2′,3′-cyclic phosphate terminus and the other a 5′-hydroxyl terminus. Right: siRNA is recognized by RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC). RNA helicases unwind the double-stranded siRNA, and the antisense strand guides RISC to the complementary mRNA. Targeted mRNA is cleaved by RISC and rapidly degraded.