The transDSL Ligase Ribozyme Can Utilize Various Forms of Modules to Clamp Its Substrate and Enzyme Units

TransDSL is an RNA ligase ribozyme whose enzyme unit joins two RNA fragments constituting a substrate. The enzyme unit recognizes the substrate by means of two clamp modules. We constructed active variants by replacing the original clamp module with various types of interactions. Such flexible modularity would be advantageous in the application of this ribozyme in nanobiotechnology.