SHORT COMMUNICATION Some Properties of Site-Specific Nickase BspD6I and the Possibility of Its Use in Hybridization Analysis of DNA

Abstract—A new method for hybridization analysis of nucleic acids is proposed on the basis of the ability of site-specific nickases to cleave only one DNA strand. The method is based on the use of a labeled oligonucleotide with the recognition site of the nickase hybridized with the target (DNA or RNA) at an optimal temperature of the enzyme (55°C). The two shorter oligonucleotides formed after the cleavage with the nickase do not complex with the target. Thus, a multiple cleavage of the labeled oligonucleotide takes place on one target molecule. The cleavage of the nucleotide is recorded either by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (when a radioactive labeled oligonucleotide is used) or by fluorescence measurements (if the oligonucleotide has the structure of a molecular beacon). The new method was tested on nickase BspD6I and a radioactive oligonucleotide complementary to the polylinker region of the viral DNA strand in bacteriophage M13mp19. Unfortunately, nickase BspD6I does not cleave DNA in the RNA–DNA duplexes and therefore cannot be used for detection of RNA targets. Key words: site-specific nickases, hybridization of nucleic acids, restriction endonucleases, molecular beacons Site-specific nickases are a new class of enzymes. Nickases recognize a specific sequence (site) on a doublestranded DNA and cleave only one of the DNA strands in a strictly determined manner. This class of enzymes includes only three members so far. The first nickase (N