Chemistry and biology of self-cleaving ribozymes #MMPMID26481500
Jimenez RM; Polanco JA; Lupták A
Trends Biochem Sci 2015[Nov]; 40 (11): 648-61 PMID26481500show ga
Self-cleaving ribozymes were discovered thirty years ago, but their biological distribution and catalytic mechanisms are only beginning to be defined. Each ribozyme family is defined by a distinct structure with unique active sites accelerating the same transesterification reaction across the families. Biochemical studies show that general acid-base catalysis is the most common mechanism of self-cleavage, but metal ions and metabolites can be employed as cofactors. Ribozymes have been discovered in highly diverse genomic contexts throughout nature, from viroids to vertebrates. Their biological roles include self-scission during rolling-circle replication of RNA genomes, co-transcriptional processing of retrotransposons, and metabolite-dependent gene expression regulation in bacteria. Other examples, including highly conserved mammalian ribozymes, suggest that many new biological roles are yet to be discovered.