Photochemical hammerhead ribozyme activation

We report the light-activation of allosteric cis and trans acting ribozymes via decaging of a small organic molecule ligand. To achieve this effectively, we introduce an optimized N-caging group based on a nitrobenzyl core structure. This approach can potentially be employed toward a light-induced control of gene function. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.