title: Hairpin ribozyme catalysis: a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy study.
abstract: The existence of an "RNA world" as an early step in the history of life increases the interest for the characterization of these biomolecules. The hairpin ribozyme studied here is a self-cleaving/ligating motif found in the minus strand of the satellite RNA associated with Tobacco ringspot virus. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful tool to study trace amounts of RNA. In controlled conditions, a SERS signal is proportional to the amount of free residues adsorbed on the metal surface. On RNA cleavage, residues are unpaired and free to interact with metal. SERS procedures are used to monitor and quantify the catalysis of ribozyme cleavage at biological concentrations in real time; thus, they propose an interesting alternative to electrophoretic methods.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Dynamique, Interactions et Réactivité (LADIR), UMR 7075 CNRS and UPMC Univ Paris 06, 2 rue Henry Dunant, 94320 Thiais, France.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Percot
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lecomte
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vergne
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Maurel
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D055162:Biocatalysis / Q000187:drug effects; D002138:Calibration; D003102:Colloids; D007700:Kinetics; D015636:Magnesium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; C418481:hairpin ribozyme; D015636:Magnesium Chloride