RNA catalysis—is that it?
- Cancer Research UK Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, MSI/WTB Complex, The University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
- Corresponding author: d.m.j.lilley{at}dundee.ac.uk
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
RNA catalysis
Ribozymes are RNA molecules that accelerate chemical reactions, enzymes that happen to be made of RNA rather than protein. Aside from the chemical challenge of trying to explain how a nucleic acid can do that, why should anyone care? Although these species created a lot of interest when the RNAjournal began 20 years ago, they have slipped out of fashion more recently, and some may think RNA catalysis is only a niche activity restricted to a few slimy things in ponds. Yet this is far from the truth. Two of the cell's most important reactions are catalyzed by RNA. The condensation of amino acids in the peptidyl transferase center of the ribosome (arguably THE most important reaction in the cell!) is catalyzed not by protein, but by the major RNA component of the large subunit. Similarly, the splicing of mRNA in eukaryotes is catalyzed by the U2-U6 snRNA. So …
