Phosphoester-transfer mechanism of an RNA-cleaving acidic deoxyribozyme revealed by radioactivity tracking and enzymatic digestion

A convenient method involving 32P-labeling of an RNA substrate at the cleavage site and subsequent enzymatic digestion of cleavage products via phosphatases reveals that pH4DZ1--an RNA-cleaving deoxyribozyme with optimal activity at pH 4--forms a 5'-cleavage fragment with 2',3'-cyclic phosphate group and a 3'-cleavage fragment with 5'-OH group.