Fig 9. Modified AgoshRNAs with weakening GU basepairs.

AgoshRNAs were modified by incorporation of G-U bp. G-U or U-G bp were introduced by mutation of the 3’ side of the stem (marked in orange), thus not affecting the 5’ side-encoded AgoshRNA guide (marked in grey). The mutations were avoided in the area where Ago2 cleaves (between bp 10 and 11). The thermodynamic stability (ΔG in kcal/mole) of the hairpins was determined using the Mfold program and indicated in Table 1.