Deoxyribozymes and bioinformatics: complementary tools to investigate axon regeneration

This review focuses on deoxyribozyme technology, a potential therapeutic for spinal cord injuries (SCIs) or other brain insults, combined with a bioinformatics approach to understand the complex protein-protein interactions that occur after such trauma. Bioinformatics helps identify key players in the complex processes after SCI and novel molecules against which new knockdown agents can be generated. Used synergistically, deoxyribozymes and bioinformatics should facilitate the pursuit of treatments for central nervous system insults.

• 1
  Deoxyribozymes, also called DNA enzymes or DNAzymes, are single-stranded DNA molecules developed using systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX).
• 2
  Modifications to deoxyribozymes, such as phosphorothioate linkages, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, 3′-terminal nucleotide inversions, and locked nucleic acids, enhance bioactivity, lower toxicity, and increase target affinity.
• 3
  Bioinformatics, particularly through microarray experiments and data mining, aids in identifying suitable target molecules for designing new deoxyribozymes to prevent regeneration failure after spinal cord injury.