title: Ribozymes: recent advances in the development of RNA tools.
abstract: The discovery 20 years ago that some RNA molecules, called ribozymes, are able to catalyze chemical reactions was a breakthrough in biology. Over the last two decades numerous natural RNA motifs endowed with catalytic activity have been described. They all fit within a few well-defined types that respond to a specific RNA structure. The prototype catalytic domain of each one has been engineered to generate trans-acting ribozymes that catalyze the site-specific cleavage of other RNA molecules. On the 20th anniversary of ribozyme discovery we briefly summarize the main features of the different natural catalytic RNAs. We also describe progress towards developing strategies to ensure an efficient ribozyme-based technology, dedicating special attention to the ones aimed to achieve a new generation of therapeutic agents.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, CSIC, Ventanilla 11, 18001 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Puerta-Fernández
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romero-López
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barroso-delJesus
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berzal-Herranz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000639:trends; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012326:RNA Splicing; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012313:RNA