Comparative study of polyethylene polyamines as activator molecules for a structurally unstable group I ribozyme

Polyamines are a promising class of molecules that can modulate RNA enzyme activities. To analyze the effects of the number of amine moieties systematically, we employed four polyamines sharing dimethylene units to connect amine moieties. As a model RNA enzyme, we used a structurally unstable group I ribozyme, which was activated most and least efficiently by tetraethylenepentamine and diethylenetriamine respectively.