title: Activity of hammerhead ribozymes containing non-nucleotidic linkers.
abstract: Hammerhead ribozymes were synthesized in which the tetranucleotide loop II was replaced by non-nucleotidic linkers of 7, 13, 17 and 19 atoms length. Ribozymes with 17 and 19 atom linkers, in combination with a 4 base pair stem II, had catalytic efficiencies which were 2 fold increased to that of the parent ribozyme with a tetranucleotide loop. Ribozymes with these linkers, but in combination with a 2 base pair stem II, showed a 2 fold decrease in catalytic efficiency when compared to the parent ribozyme. Prolonged preincubation in the presence of MgCl2 was required for hexaethylene glycol linker-modified ribozymes to obtain maximum activity and reproducible kinetic data.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tuschl
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eckstein
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D007700:Kinetics; D015636:Magnesium Chloride; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D015636:Magnesium Chloride; D012313:RNA