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Leadzyme

Introduction

Leadzyme is a small ribozyme that was artificially made using in vitro selection techniques. Leadzyme is able to cleave RNA in the presence of lead [1]. The structure of leadzyme has been determined by X-ray crystallography [2].

It has been proposed that a naturally occurring leadzyme occurs in the 5S rRNA and further that this may be an important mechanism in lead toxicity [3].

References

  1. ↑ Pan T, Uhlenbeck OC (1992). “In vitro selection of RNAs that undergo autolytic cleavage with Pb2+”. Biochemistry. 31 (16): 3887–3895. PMID 1373649.
  2. ↑ Wedekind JE, McKay DB. (2003). “Crystal structure of the leadzyme at 1.8 A resolution: metal ion binding and the implications for catalytic mechanism and allo site ion regulation”. Biochemistry. 42 (32): 9554–9563. PMID 12911297.
  3. ↑ Barciszewska MZ, Wyszko E, Bald R, Erdmann VA, Barciszewski J. (2003). “5S rRNA is a leadzyme. A molecular basis for lead toxicity”. J. Biochemistry. 133 (3): 309–315. PMID 12761166.