Question

NA (15 pts 2. Ribozymes are a class of bio-active RNA with catalytic activity. Ribozymes own the ability to catalyze RNA hydrolysis and consequently function to regulate mRNA expression. Thus, ribozymes and their synthetic analogs have shown promise in gene therapy applications, in.an effort.to down-regulate detrimental mRNA expression (Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 1998, 2, 24-30) (a) The structure of a mRNA-ribozyme complex is ilustrated below. Circle the mRNA and ribozyme components of the complex and label them respectively. Describe two types of RNA secondary structures found within the mRNA ribozyme complex u g GUCAA-U C- G SAAACAG G A G-C-45 АС C-G A-U G U

Answer 1

The secondary structures are:
Hairpin: It is a secondary structure which consists of four helical stems that are connected in four way attachment junctions. Stem A and B are needed by enzymatic activity of ribozyme. Stem C and D impart structural stability only; they are not involved in the ribozyme activity.
Hammerhead: It is made of three helices called as stem I, II and III that originate from the catalytic core. The core is responsible for the catalytic activity of ribozyme.

mRNA uuuquc caqu UCA C-Gstem SAAACAG stem l G A C- stem ll G-C.45 A C C-G Stem-loop Ribozyme