Patent ID: 7141665

Claim:
A catalytic nucleic acid molecule having site-specific endonuclease activity specific for a nucleotide sequence defining a cleavage site in a preselected substrate nucleic acid sequence, said molecule comprising first and second substrate binding regions flanking a core region, said molecule comprising the formula: 5′ (X-R)-GGCTAGCHACAACGA (X) 3′, wherein the sequence GGCTAGCHACAACGA represents residues 2–16 of SEQ ID NO:122, wherein each X is any nucleotide sequence, (X-R) represents said first substrate binding region, (X) represents said second substrate binding region, R is a nucleotide capable of forming a base pair with a pyrimidine in said preselected substrate nucleic acid sequence, H is T, C, or A, said first substrate binding region comprises a sequence capable of binding through complementary base-pairing to a first portion of said preselected substrate nucleic acid sequence, and said second substrate binding region comprises a sequence capable of binding through complementary base-pairing to a second portion of said preselected substrate nucleic acid sequence.