The autonomous DNA walker can be applied in the direction conduction and amplification of detection signals due to its unique characteristic of continuous mechanical motion. DNAzyme walker is a kind of special DNA walker that is propelled by DNAzyme. Herein, we describe a designed model named Self-Cleavage DNAzyme Walker (SCDW), in which the DNAzyme and substrate were designed as tracks, and the target served as a walker. In short, the target (walker) walks along the tracks (DNAzyme–substrate chimera) step by step. At each step, the track can be activated and then self-cleaved, resulting in continuous mechanical movement. We tested the performance of the SCDW in a tube and in live cells. The results showed that it could detect the expression level and change of target miRNA in vitro and in live cells with high sensitivity and specificity. It is speculated that such a design may be extensively used to assist in disease diagnosis as well as fundamental biomedical research.

中文翻译：

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用于活细胞 MicroRNA 成像的自主自切割 DNAzyme Walker

自主DNA walker由于其独特的连续机械运动特性，可应用于检测信号的方向传导和放大。DNAzyme walker是一种由DNAzyme驱动的特殊DNA walker。在这里，我们描述了一种名为自切割 DNAzyme Walker (SCDW) 的设计模型，其中 DNAzyme 和底物被设计为轨道，目标作为步行者。简而言之，目标（步行者）一步一步地沿着轨道（DNAzyme-substrate chimera）行走。在每一步，轨道都可以被激活，然后自行切割，从而产生连续的机械运动。我们在试管和活细胞中测试了 SCDW 的性能。结果表明，该方法可以检测靶miRNA在体外和活细胞中的表达水平和变化，具有较高的敏感性和特异性。