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Pressure modulates the self-cleavage step of the hairpin ribozyme

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  • Caroline Schuabb

    (Physikalische Chemie I—Biophysikalische Chemie, Fakultät für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, TU Dortmund)

  • Narendra Kumar

    (Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

  • Salome Pataraia

    (Physikalische Chemie I—Biophysikalische Chemie, Fakultät für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, TU Dortmund)

  • Dominik Marx

    (Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

  • Roland Winter

    (Physikalische Chemie I—Biophysikalische Chemie, Fakultät für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, TU Dortmund)

Abstract

The ability of certain RNAs, denoted as ribozymes, to not only store genetic information but also catalyse chemical reactions gave support to the RNA world hypothesis as a putative step in the development of early life on Earth. This, however, might have evolved under extreme environmental conditions, including the deep sea with pressures in the kbar regime. Here we study pressure-induced effects on the self-cleavage of hairpin ribozyme by following structural changes in real-time. Our results suggest that compression of the ribozyme leads to an accelerated transesterification reaction, being the self-cleavage step, although the overall process is retarded in the high-pressure regime. The results reveal that favourable interactions between the reaction site and neighbouring nucleobases are strengthened under pressure, resulting therefore in an accelerated self-cleavage step upon compression. These results suggest that properly engineered ribozymes may also act as piezophilic biocatalysts in addition to their hitherto known properties.

Suggested Citation

  • Caroline Schuabb & Narendra Kumar & Salome Pataraia & Dominik Marx & Roland Winter, 2017. "Pressure modulates the self-cleavage step of the hairpin ribozyme," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14661
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14661
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