Patent ID: 7829287

Claim:
A method to generate a multichain nucleic acid switch adapted to switch from a first conformation to a second conformation upon ligand binding, said switch comprising: a probe strand P comprising a ligand binding domain; a switching framework comprising a cover strand (C); a tether comprising a base-pair stem that holds P and C together while the switch changes between the first and second conformations, wherein P and C are on different nucleic acid chains; and a signaling apparatus comprising a combination of signaling entities, said method comprising the following steps: (i) altering two nucleic acid sequences (a) and (b) to introduce mismatches between P and C; (ii) measuring the signal for the two nucleic acid sequences (a) and (b), thereby determining an equilibrium constant, K 1 for the switch from the first conformation to the second conformation for each of the two sequences (a) and (b); (iii) adjusting the equilibrium constant, K 1 between 0.1-0.01 based on K 1 for sequences (a) and (b); and (iv) generating the multichain nucleic acid switch having the equilibrium constant, K 1 between 0.1-0.01.