Welch et al. «Expression
of Ribozymes in Gene Transfer Systems to Modulate Target RNA Levels», Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 9: 486 - 496, 1998.
There are many different types
of ribozymes in nature but our lab has focused upon the hammerhead motif which is found as part of the self - cleaving domain of small plant viruses.
Several genetic approaches have been taken to reduce or eliminate CCR5 expression in human cells, including the use
of ribozymes [17], [18], single - chain intracellular antibodies [19], trans - dominant coreceptor mutants [20], and RNAi [21], [22].
The catalytic core
of these ribozymes is formed by two structural domains.
The discovery
of ribozymes not only changed our understanding of how life works today, but it also offered insights into the origin of life itself.
The data indicate that a substantial induced - fit conformational change accompanies P1 formation, and they provide a physical basis for understanding the transport of oligonucleotides to the catalytic core
of the ribozyme.
In subsequent work at the Whitehead Institute and MIT, Bartel modified this type
of ribozyme through tinkering and evolution.
Thus, these results directly demonstrate that divalent metal ions participate in general folding
of the ribozyme tertiary structure, and further indicate a more specific involvement of Mg (II) in catalysis.
As a means of facilitating the self - replication process, the size
of this ribozyme was decreased by the deletion of nonconserved structural domains; however, when such deletions were made, there were severe losses of enzymatic activity.
Not exact matches
You may wish to start by looking at the work
of miller and urey, followed by some reading on prions and
ribozymes.
In particular, at some point some
of the RNA sequences mutated, becoming
ribozymes that sped up the copying
of RNA — thus adding a competitive advantage.
By this directed evolution we were able to produce
ribozymes that can catalyze the copying
of relatively short strands
of other RNAs, although they fall far short
of being able to copy polymers with their own sequences into progeny RNAs.
A catalytic RNA (
ribozyme) derived from an intervening sequence (IVS) RNA
of Tetrahymena thermophila will catalyze an RNA polymerization reaction in which pentacytidylic acid (C5) is extended by the successive addition
of mononucleotides derived from a guanylyl -(3», 5»)- nucleotide (GpN).
Gut development and cancer,
ribozymes and RNA catalysis, and the molecular genetics
of muscular diseases will all be served up on the menu shortly.
Ribozymes derived from the self - splicing pre-ribosomal RNA
of Tetrahymena act as sequence - specific endonucleases.
Using the atomic structures
of the large ribosomal subunit fromHaloarcula marismortui and its complexes with two substrate analogs, we establish that the ribosome is a
ribozyme and address the catalytic properties
of its all - RNA active site.
The contribution made by individual functional groups
of the G.U pair in the context
of the Tetrahymena
ribozyme was examined by replacement
of the G.U pair with synthetic base pairs that maintain a wobble configuration, but that systematically alter functional groups in the major and minor grooves
of the duplex.
The
ribozyme active site also makes tertiary contacts with a tripod
of 2» - hydroxyls on the minor groove surface
of the splice site helix.
There are already some companies dedicated to bringing
ribozymes from the laboratory to the commercial world, with potential applications as sensitive sensors
of biowarfare germs or as medical diagnostic tests.
He and his team hope to prove that a
ribozyme can carry out real biochemistry inside a vesicle — even if that biochemistry consists
of just cutting another RNA molecule in two.
In total, the
ribozyme could add on 14 nucleotides, with an accuracy
of roughly 97 percent.
Unlike aptamers, which are capable only
of sticking to something else,
ribozymes can change the structure
of other molecules.
Szostak's
ribozyme could only piece together chains
of RNA, each
of which was several nucleotides long.
In 1993 David Bartel, then a graduate student with Szostak, produced a
ribozyme that could join another piece
of RNA to itself.
A reversible local folding step in which a duplex docks and undocks from the
ribozyme core was observed directly in single - molecule time trajectories, allowing the determination
of the rate constants and characterization
of the transition state.
They tested it in a rat model
of ADRP and found that after 2 to 3 months, eyes that had been injected with the virus -
ribozyme combo contained 30 to 40 % more rod cells than eyes that received a dummy injection.
The therapy uses a designer
ribozyme, a short strand
of RNA that chops up other RNA, to seek and destroy mutant RNA before it can be used to build a protein that kills the eye's rod cells.
This
ribozyme was chosen as a starting point for the design
of a self - replicating RNA because
of its small size.
The small size and reduced secondary structure
of the selected variant results in an enhancement, relative to that
of the original
ribozyme,
of its rate
of self - copying.
Because
of the retroviral packaging signal, the
ribozyme would be expected to colocalize with the lacZ - containing viral genomic RNA but not with the lacZ messenger RNA.
Determination
of positions where the phosphodiester backbone
of the RNA is on the inside or on the outside
of the molecule provides major constraints for modeling the three - dimensional structure
of the Tetrahymena
ribozyme.
In some prokaryotes as well as in the organelles
of some eukaryotes, splicing can be self - catalyzed by particular
ribozymes with the help
of magnesium ions, without the intervention
of any protein machinery: the group II introns
ribozymes are in fact able to self - regulate their own removal from the filament, thus promoting the maturation
of messenger RNA.
It was in fact believed that
ribozymes resembled the functioning
of protein enzymes, but that is not case: the latter in fact use far more specific methods due to the chemical richness
of amino acids, whereas the process in
ribozymes adapts to the skeleton
of the RNA that forms them, resulting in a slightly slower but equally precise reaction mechanism.»
Cellular compartmentalization
of RNAs is thought to influence their susceptibility to
ribozyme cleavage.
Each captured RNAP
ribozyme was then used as the starting point for another round
of evolution.
After 24 rounds
of this test tube evolution, in which the scientists successively upped the requirements for what a RNAP
ribozyme had to do to be successful, they wound up with one called 24 - 3 polymerase.
In 1993, researchers led by Jack Szostak at Harvard University created an all - RNA version
of RNAP, also known as an RNAP
ribozyme, which joined two small pieces
of RNA on a separate template RNA strand.
Two years ago, for example, researchers in the United Kingdom reported isolating an RNAP
ribozyme capable
of stitching together RNAs up to 200 nucleotides long, again when matching them up to a template strand.
The structure indicates the extent
of RNA packing required for the function
of large
ribozymes, the spliceosome, and the ribosome.
Their announcement in 1982
of the existence
of a «
ribozyme» — an RNA molecule capable
of catalyzing chemical reactions — upset beliefs about the nature
of enzymes, but soon other catalytic RNAs were discovered.
We have exploited these
ribozymes for both basic studies
of RNA catalysis and for therapeutic applications.
This «hit - and - run» approach limits the requirement
of chronic transgene expression and the potential leakiness
of other approaches including siRNA [21], [22], intrabodies [19], and
ribozymes [17].
I managed to get a great many articles in evolutionary biology (e.g., retroelements,
ribozymes, phages) that way with the Proceedings
of the National Academy
of Sciences.