Abstract
DNAzymes conventionally require dissolved metal ions for catalytic functions. Herein, we report that metal surfaces directly activate a self-cleaving DNAzyme (PL) at solid-liquid interfaces. PL exhibits activities on copper, vanadium and tantalum surfaces, within a minimal reaction system comprising only the metal surface, PL and double-distilled water. This interfacial activation is highly material-specific, showing complete absence of activity on plastics, glass or wood etc. Mechanistic studies reveal that dissolved oxygen could react with metal surfaces to generate superoxide anions, which serve as triggers for DNA-cleavage. The reaction shows modulatable characteristics, with inhibition by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, catalase, nitroblue tetrazolium and cytochrome c, versus enhancement by vitamin C, glutathione and catechol. Furthermore, metal surface-mediated activation was also observed in F-8, Ag10c and I-R3 DNAzymes, indicating that this phenomenon is not an isolated occurrence. This work establishes macroscopic metals as DNAzyme’s cofactors, extending DNAzyme catalysis beyond conventional homogeneous systems to heterogeneous interfacial environments.
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All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and Supplementary Information. Source data used to generate figures is provided in Supplementary Data 1.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0907003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171454), and the Science and Technology Research Project of Jilin Provincial Education Department of China (JJKH20231143KJ).
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D.J. and J.X. conceived concept. F.J., Y.D., W.Y., H.T., and L.Y. performed the experiments. D.J., J.X., Z.J., Y.S., and D.S. discussed the results and commented on the paper. J.X. and D.J. supervised this work and wrote the manuscript.
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Jiang, F., Dong, Y., Yu, W. et al. Metal surface-triggered DNAzyme catalysis for efficient DNA cleavage. Commun Chem (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-026-01893-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-026-01893-z
