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. 2001 Jan;7(1):29–43. doi: 10.1017/s1355838201001510

A ribozyme selected from variants of U6 snRNA promotes 2',5'-branch formation.

T Tuschl 1, P A Sharp 1, D P Bartel 1
PMCID: PMC1370066  PMID: 11214178

Abstract

In vitro selection was used to sample SnRNA-related sequences for ribozyme activities, and several 2',5'-branch-forming ribozymes were isolated. One such ribozyme is highly dependent upon an 11-nt motif that contains a conserved U6 snRNA sequence (ACAGAGA-box) known to be important for pre-mRNA splicing. The ribozyme reaction is similar to the first step of splicing in that an internal 2'-hydroxyl of an unpaired adenosine attacks at the 5'-phosphate of a guanosine. It differs in that the leaving group is diphosphate rather than a 5' exon. The finding that lariat formation can be accomplished by a small RNA with sequences related to U6 snRNA indicates that the RNA available in the spliceosome may be involved in RNA-catalyzed branch formation.

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Selected References

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