Real-time measurements of DNA exonucleases

The activities of the 5’→3’ exonucleases T5 exonuclease and Lambda exonuclease could be analyzed using a switchSENSE molecular ruler assay. The assay can be applied for evaluating optimal working conditions (buffer, temperature). In addition, the tolerance of exonucleases for various substrates can be easily assessed (5’-phosphorylations, small-molecule modifications). By simply changing the orientation of the surface-immobilized DNA, the assay can be used likewise for 3’→5’ exonucleases.