Introducing an argonaute-facilitated PCR platform

Abstract

Argonaute proteins are characterized by highly efficient guide DNA/RNA-directed binding to target nucleic acids with high fidelity. Employing this feature, we designed an argonaute-facilitated PCR platform by making use of an argonaute derived from Mesorhizobium japonicum (MejAgo) which does not carry nuclease activity and exposes the 3 end of guide DNA when binding. Each reaction cycle of the MejAgo-PCR platform consists of a denaturing step and a polymerase-mediated extension step, omitting the annealing step required by the traditional PCR. More importantly, MejAgo-PCR could significantly improve the sensitivity of PCR in template detection due to the argonaute-facilitated pairing between guide DNA/primer and template. Thus, an argonaute-facilitated PCR has the potential to be developed as an advanced PCR platform with higher sensitivity and efficiency.