Download MendeleyHatchet ribozyme structure and implications for cleavage mechanism.
Zheng, L., Falschlunger, C., Huang, K., Mairhofer, E., Yuan, S., Wang, J., Patel, D.J., Micura, R., Ren, A.(2019) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 116: 10783-10791
- PubMed: 31088965
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1902413116
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
6JQ5, 6JQ6 - PubMed Abstract:
Small self-cleaving ribozymes catalyze site-specific cleavage of their own phosphodiester backbone with implications for viral genome replication, pre-mRNA processing, and alternative splicing. We report on the 2.1-Å crystal structure of the hatchet ribozyme product, which adopts a compact pseudosymmetric dimeric scaffold, with each monomer stabilized by long-range interactions involving highly conserved nucleotides brought into close proximity of the scissile phosphate. Strikingly, the catalytic pocket contains a cavity capable of accommodating both the modeled scissile phosphate and its flanking 5' nucleoside. The resulting modeled precatalytic conformation incorporates a splayed-apart alignment at the scissile phosphate, thereby providing structure-based insights into the in-line cleavage mechanism. We identify a guanine lining the catalytic pocket positioned to contribute to cleavage chemistry. The functional relevance of structure-based insights into hatchet ribozyme catalysis is strongly supported by cleavage assays monitoring the impact of selected nucleobase and atom-specific mutations on ribozyme activity.
Organizational Affiliation:
Life Science Institute, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China.
