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A magnesium ion core at the heart of a ribozyme domain
J H Cate1, R L Hanna, J A Doudna
1Dept. of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
Nature Structural Biology
|July 1, 1997
Abstract:
Large ribozymes require divalent metal ions to fold. We show here that the tertiary structure of the Tetrahymena group I intron P4-P6 domain nucleates around a magnesium ion core. In the domain crystal structure, five magnesium ions bind in a three-helix junction at the centre of the molecule. Single atom changes in any one of four magnesium sites in this three-helix junction destroy folding of the entire 160-nucleotide P4-P6 domain. The magnesium ion core may be the RNA counterpart to the protein hydrophobic core, burying parts of the RNA molecule in the native structure.