Reversible switching of pRNA activity on the DNA packaging motor of bacteriophage phi29.

This paper reports a reversible switching of the biological activity of an RNA molecule, packaging RNA (pRNA), which is a central component of the DNA packaging motor of bacteriophage phi29. The switching mechanism contains two components: (1) inhibition of pRNA by a short antisense DNA (asDNA) that can bind to the 3' end of the pRNA and inactivate the packaging motor; and (2) reactivation of pRNA by isothermal removal of asDNA from pRNA through a strand displacement strategy. The switching process can be repeated for multiple cycles and has been demonstrated by gel electrophoresis and a virion assembly assay.