1-Methylguanosine substitutions of the conserved guanosine residues inactive the hammerhead ribozyme

Abstract

A study is described in which a methyl group is introduced to the N 1-nitrogen of specific guanosine residues in the hammerhead ribozyme as a steric block to prevent hydrogen bonding interactions to the Watson-Crick face of each guanine base residue. The results of this study suggest the importance of hydrogen-bonding or other types of interactions to the Watson-Crick face of the three conserved G residues.