A widely applicably method is described for fluorometric determination of targets such as microRNA and viral DNA. It is making use of a Mg(II)-dependent DNAzyme and a G-quadruplex. In the absence of analyte, an inactive DNAzyme is formed by the hybridization of split DNAzymes and substrate. On addition of target analyte, the end of each strand of the split DNAzymes bind the analyte. This leads to the generation of an active DNAzyme. In the presence of Mg(II), the activated DNAzyme is formed and can cleave the substrate strand. Hence, the caged ...
