title: An allosteric hammerhead ribozyme.
abstract: We have constructed an RNA molecule containing a hammerhead ribozyme that is under allosteric control. In the inactive state, the RNA enzyme is unable to cleave a suitable substrate. The formation of the active state of the ribozyme is triggered by a specific interaction with a DNA oligonucleotide effector that is complementary to a single-stranded loop in the RNA enzyme molecule. Other DNA or RNA molecules containing unrelated nucleotide sequences do not function as allosteric effectors. This work demonstrates the feasibility of designing RNA enzymes that are specifically activated in response to an artificially designed molecular recognition event. Such enzymes may have practical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Recognition and Structural Biology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Porta
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Lizardi
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D001483:Base Sequence; D015195:Drug Design; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013698:Templates, Genetic
chemical_list: D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016337:RNA, Catalytic