In-line alignment and Mg²⁺ coordination at the cleavage site of the env22 twister ribozyme.

ABSTRACT: Small self-cleaving nucleolytic ribozymes contain catalytic domains that accelerate site-specific cleavage/ligation of phosphodiester backbones. We report on the 2.9-Å crystal structure of the env22 twister ribozyme, which adopts a compact tertiary fold stabilized by co-helical stacking, double-pseudoknot formation and long-range pairing interactions. The U-A cleavage site adopts a splayed-apart conformation with the modelled 2'-O of U positioned for in-line attack on the adjacent to-be-cleaved P-O5' bond. Both an invariant guanosine and a Mg(2+) are directly coordinated to the non-bridging phosphate oxygens at the U-A cleavage step, with the former positioned to contribute to catalysis and the latter to structural integrity. The impact of key mutations on cleavage activity identified an i

SUBMITTER: Ren A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4373348 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature