Exposing the kinetic traps in RNA folding

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 1999 Jun;9(3):339-45. doi: 10.1016/S0959-440X(99)80045-1.

Abstract

Large ribozymes fold on a 'glacial' timescale compared to the folding of their protein counterparts. The sluggish folding exhibited by large RNAs results from the formation of kinetically trapped, misfolded intermediates, which are nonessential features of the folding mechanism. Newly developed mutant ribozymes that avoid kinetic traps should facilitate the study of the RNA folding problem.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Endoribonucleases / chemistry
  • Kinetics
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Molecular Weight
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation*
  • RNA / chemistry*
  • RNA, Bacterial / chemistry
  • RNA, Catalytic / chemistry
  • RNA, Protozoan / chemistry
  • Ribonuclease P
  • Tetrahymena / enzymology
  • Tetrahymena / genetics

Substances

  • RNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Catalytic
  • RNA, Protozoan
  • RNA
  • Endoribonucleases
  • Ribonuclease P