Structural and Biochemical Properties of Novel Self-Cleaving Ribozymes

Fourteen well-defined ribozyme classes have been identified to date, among which nine are site-specific self-cleaving ribozymes. Very recently, small self-cleaving ribozymes have attracted renewed interest in their structure, biochemistry, and biological function since the discovery, during the last...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2017-04, Vol.22 (4), p.678
Main Authors: Lee, Ki-Young, Lee, Bong-Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adenine
Base Sequence
Biocatalysis
Biochemistry
Catalysis
catalytic mechanism
Cations
Cleavage
Coenzymes - chemistry
Crystal structure
Divalent cations
Electrostatic properties
Guanine
hatchet
Metal ions
Models, Molecular
Mutation
novel ribozymes
Nucleic Acid Conformation
pistol
Review
Ribozymes
RNA Cleavage
RNA, Catalytic - chemistry
structure
twister
twister-sister
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Summary:Fourteen well-defined ribozyme classes have been identified to date, among which nine are site-specific self-cleaving ribozymes. Very recently, small self-cleaving ribozymes have attracted renewed interest in their structure, biochemistry, and biological function since the discovery, during the last three years, of four novel ribozymes, termed twister, twister sister, pistol, and hatchet. In this review, we mainly address the structure, biochemistry, and catalytic mechanism of the novel ribozymes. They are characterized by distinct active site architectures and divergent, but similar, biochemical properties. The cleavage activities of the ribozymes are highly dependent upon divalent cations, pH, and base-specific mutations, which can cause changes in the nucleotide arrangement and/or electrostatic potential around the cleavage site. It is most likely that a guanine and adenine in close proximity of the cleavage site are involved in general acid-base catalysis. In addition, metal ions appear to play a structural rather than catalytic role although some of their crystal structures have shown a direct metal ion coordination to a non-bridging phosphate oxygen at the cleavage site. Collectively, the structural and biochemical data of the four newest ribozymes could contribute to advance our mechanistic understanding of how self-cleaving ribozymes accomplish their efficient site-specific RNA cleavages.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules22040678