Point Mutations of the Ras family are frequently found in human cancers at a prevalence rate of 30%. The most common mutation K-Ras(G12V), required for tumor proliferation, Survival, and metastasis due to its constitutively active GTPase activity, has provided an ideal target for cancer therapy. 10-23 DNAzyme, all oligodeoxyribonucleotide-based ribonuclease consisting of a 15-nucleotide catalytical domain flanked by two target-specific complementary arms, has been shown to effectively cleave the target mRNA at purine-pyrimidine dinucleotide. Taking advantage of this specific property, 10-23 DNAzyme was designed to cleave mRNA of K-Ras(G12V)((GG) under barU -> (GU) under barU) at the GU dinucleotide while left the wild-type (WT) K-Ras mRNA intact. The K-Ras(G12V)-specific 10-23 DNAzyme was able to reduce K-Ras(G12V) at both mRNA and protein levels in SW480 cell carrying homozygous K-Ras (G12V). No effect was observed on the WT K-Ras in HEK cells. Although K-Ras(G12V)-specific DNAzymes alone did not inhibit proliferation of SW480 or HEK cells, pre-treatment of this DNAzyme sensitized the K-Ras(G12V) mutant cells to anti-cancer agents such as doxorubicin ad radiation. These results offer a potential of using allele-specific 10-23 DNAzyme in combination with other cancer therapies to achieve better effectiveness on cancer treatment. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.