Cover image

Self-alkylating ribozyme (PDB id: 6XJQ; Krochmal D, Shao Y, Li NS, DasGupta S, Shelke SA, Koirala D, Piccirilli JA. 2022. Structural basis for substrate binding and catalysis by a self-alkylating ribozyme. Nat Chem Biol 18: 376–384). Crystal structure of a self-alkylating ribozyme that catalyzes nitrogen-carbon bond formation between a specific guanine and a 2,3-disubstituted epoxide substrate. The ribozyme assumes an elongated hairpin-like architecture preorganized to accommodate the epoxide substrate in a hook-shaped conformation. The ribozyme is displayed in NDB colors: A—red, C—yellow, G—green, U—cyan; alkyl epoxide modification of Guanine-16 is shown in magenta. The cocrystallized Fab is shown as purple and orange ribbons. Cover image provided by the Nucleic Acid Database (NDB)/Nucleic Acid Knowledgebase (NAKB; nakb.org). Image was created using Mol* (Sehnal D, Bittrich S, Deshpande M, Svobodová R, Berka K, Bazgier V, Velankar S, Burley SK, Koča J, Rose AS. 2021. Nucleic Acids Res 49: W431–W437).