Mary Stahley

From WikidChem

Group I intron crystallography

The group I intron was the first RNA shown to have catalytic activity. In the absence of proteins, it excises itself from a pre-RNA while ligating flanking exons in two consecutive phosphoryl transfer reactions. After 20 years of biochemical examination of the ribozyme's fold and self-splicing mechanism, we solved the first crystal structure of a group I intron that included all of the active site components. This structure provided a 3D view of the native fold, the mechanism of splice site selection and how the substrates are positioned for catalysis. I've since focused on the structural and catalytic roles of metal binding to this RNA. A second group I intron crystal structure that included all catalytic metal ion ligands provided evidence that there are two metals in the active site of the intron. These metals play similar roles as catalytic metal ions found in protein phosphoryl transferases.