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Nanomanipulation of Single RNA Molecules by Optical Tweezers

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Published on: August 20, 2014

A Hexameric Ribozyme Nanostructure Formed by Double-Decker Assembly of a Pair of Triangular Ribozyme Trimers

Kai Yu¹, Kumi Hidaka², Hiroshi Sugiyama^2,3

¹Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Toyama, 930-8555, Japan.

Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology

|January 28, 2022

Abstract:

The modular architecture of naturally occurring ribozymes makes them a promising class of structural platform for the design and assembly of three-dimensional (3D) RNA nanostructures, into which the catalytic ability of the platform ribozyme can be installed. We have constructed and analyzed RNA nanostructures with polygonal-shaped (closed) ribozyme oligomers by assembling unit RNAs derived from the Tetrahymena group I intron with a typical modular architecture. In this study, we dimerized ribozyme trimers with a triangular shape by introducing three pillar units. The resulting double-decker nanostructures containing six ribozyme units were characterized biochemically and their structures were observed by atomic force microscopy. The double-decker hexamers exhibited higher catalytic activity than the parent ribozyme trimers.

Keywords:

RNA nanostructures RNA nanotechnology Tetrahymena group I introns ribozymes

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