Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 315, Issue 5818, Pages 1549-1553Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1136231
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- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM087721] Funding Source: Medline
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Life originated, according to the RNA World hypothesis, from self-replicating ribozymes that catalyzed ligation of RNA fragments. We have solved the 2.6 angstrom crystal structure of a ligase ribozyme that catalyzes regiospecific formation of a 5' to 3' phosphodiester bond between the 5'-triphosphate and the 3'-hydroxyl termini of two RNA fragments. Invariant residues form tertiary contacts that stabilize a flexible stem of the ribozyme at the ligation site, where an essential magnesium ion coordinates three phosphates. The structure of the active site permits us to suggest how transition-state stabilization and a general base may catalyze the ligation reaction required for prebiotic RNA assembly.
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