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US 10,590,162 B2Granted
Reversible metal ion chelators
AssigneePromega Corporation
InventorsThomas Kirkland, Mark McDougall, Poncho Meisenheimer, Min Zhou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided herein are chelator constructs (e.g., nucleic acid, peptide, peptide nucleic acid, etc.) that sequester metal ions (e.g., Mg2+) under a first set of conditions and fail to sequester or release sequestered metal ions under a second set of conditions. In particular, nucleic acid constructs are provided that sequester metal ions (e.g., Mg2+) under conditions that favor secondary and tertiary structure formation and release or fail to sequester metal ions under conditions that disfavor the formation of such structures.
Claims13
A reversible chelator construct comprising:
- (a) a first nucleic acid strand attached to a first chelation component at the 5′ terminus of the first nucleic acid strand;
- (b) a second nucleic acid strand attached to a second chelation component at the 3′ terminus of the second nucleic acid strand;
- and
- (c) a third nucleic acid strand;
- wherein, when under low temperature conditions, the construct adopts a first conformation in which the first and second nucleic acid strands hybridize to the third nucleic acid strand;
- wherein, when under high temperature conditions, the construct adopts a second conformation in which the first and second nucleic acid strands are not hybridized to the third nucleic acid strand;
- wherein, when the first and second nucleic acid strands are hybridized to the third nucleic acid strand, the first and second chelation components are placed into appropriate proximity and orientation to more efficiently chelate metal ions than when the first and second nucleic acid strands are not hybridized to the third nucleic acid strand;
- and
- wherein, wherein the first and second nucleic acid strands are not hybridized to the third nucleic acid strand, the first and second chelation components chelate metal ions less efficiently than when the first and second nucleic acid strands are hybridized to the third nucleic acid strand.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.