The nucleolytic ribozymes use general acid–base catalysis to contribute significantly to their rate enhancement. The VS (Varkud satellite) ribozyme uses a guanine and an adenine nucleobase as general base and acid respectively in the cleavage reaction. The hairpin ribozyme is probably closely similar, while the remaining nucleolytic ribozymes provide some interesting contrasts.

Keywords:
catalytic mechanism, general acid–base catalysis, hairpin ribozyme, ribozyme, RNA catalysis, Varkud satellite ribozyme (VS ribozyme)
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2011 Biochemical Society
2011
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