Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Shechner DM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3169305 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Shechner David M DM Bartel David P DP
Nature structural & molecular biology 20110821 9
Early life presumably required polymerase ribozymes capable of replicating RNA. Known polymerase ribozymes best approximating such replicases use as their catalytic engine an RNA-ligase ribozyme originally selected from random RNA sequences. Here we report 3.15-Å crystal structures of this ligase trapped in catalytically viable preligation states, with the 3'-hydroxyl nucleophile positioned for in-line attack on the 5'-triphosphate. Guided by metal- and solvent-mediated interactions, the 5'-trip ...[more]