Coordinated control of a designed trans-acting ligase ribozyme by a loop–receptor interaction

Abstract We previously developed a synthetic cis -acting RNA ligase ribozyme with 3′–5′ joining activity termed “DSL” (designed and selected ligase). DSL was easily transformed into a trans -acting form because of its highly modular architecture. In this study, we investigated the modular properties and turnover capabilities of a trans -acting DSL, t DSL-1/GUAA. t DSL-1/GUAA exhibited remarkably high activity compared with the parental cis -acting DSL, and it attained a high turnover number. Taken together, the results indicate that a loop–receptor interaction plays a significant role in determining the activity of the trans -acting ribozyme and in its ability to perform multiple turnovers of the reaction.