Cobalt(III)hexaammine-dependent photocrosslinks in the hairpin ribozyme.

ABSTRACT: We have utilized the hairpin ribozyme, an RNA enzyme whose structure has been solved by high-resolution methods, to develop a new tool for mapping nucleobase-stacking interactions and potential metal-binding sites in RNA molecules. This tool involves the photoactivation of a specifically bound cobalt(III)hexaammine molecule at wavelengths corresponding to excitation of the metal ion complex only; no base excitation is involved. The photoexcitation initiates a process which strongly promotes the formation of a novel covalent bond or crosslink between one base (termed the "first base"), which is close in space to the excited cobalt(III)hexaammine complex, and another base upon which the first base is closely stacked. These crosslinked species can be isolated and sequenced; their activities c

SUBMITTER: Kraemer-Chant CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3897194 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature