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

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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, tDSL-1/GUAA. tDSL-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.