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Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Using Modified Synthetic Oligonucleotides to Assay Nucleic Acid-Metabolizing Enzymes
Published on: July 5, 2024
Structure and mechanism of RNA ligase
C Kiong Ho1, Li Kai Wang, Christopher D Lima
1Molecular Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Abstract:
T4 RNA ligase 2 (Rnl2) exemplifies an RNA ligase family that includes the RNA editing ligases (RELs) of Trypanosoma and Leishmania. The Rnl2/REL enzymes are defined by essential signature residues and a unique C-terminal domain, which we show is essential for sealing of 3'-OH and 5'-PO4 RNA ends by Rnl2, but not for ligase adenylation or phosphodiester bond formation at a preadenylated AppRNA end. The N-terminal segment Rnl2(1-249) of the 334 aa Rnl2 protein comprises an autonomous adenylyltransferase/AppRNA ligase domain. We report the 1.9 A crystal structure of the ligase domain with AMP bound at the active site, which reveals a shared fold, catalytic mechanism, and evolutionary history for RNA ligases, DNA ligases, and mRNA capping enzymes.
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