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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Chemical Triphosphorylation of Oligonucleotides
Published on: June 2, 2022
Structural Expansion of Catalytic RNA Nanostructures through Oligomerization of a Cyclic Trimer of Engineered
Mst Ayesha Siddika1, Hiroki Oi2, Kumi Hidaka3
1Graduate School of Innovative Life Science, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Toyama, Japan.
Abstract:
The multimolecular assembly of three-dimensionally structured proteins forms their quaternary structures, some of which have high geometric symmetry. The size and complexity of protein quaternary structures often increase in a hierarchical manner, with simpler, smaller structures serving as units for larger quaternary structures. In this study, we exploited oligomerization of a ribozyme cyclic trimer to achieve larger ribozyme-based RNA assembly. By installing kissing loop (KL) interacting units to one-, two-, or three-unit RNA molecules in the ribozyme trimer, we constructed dimers, open-chain oligomers, and branched oligomers of ribozyme trimer units. One type of open-chain oligomer preferentially formed a closed tetramer containing 12 component RNAs to provide 12 ribozyme units. We also observed large assembly of ribozyme trimers, which reached 1000 nm in size.
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