DNA and RNA Can Be Equally Efficient Catalysts for Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation

摘要

Catalysis by nucleic acids was merely a theoretical possibility until the discovery of catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) in the early 1980s. Although a variety of natural ribozymes have since been identified, analogous catalytic DNAs (deoxyribozymes) have not been found in nature. In the laboratory, many artificial ribozymes and deoxyribozymes have been identified through in vitro selection by starting with pools of random sequences. The repertoire of artificial ribozymes discovered in this fashion encompasses many chemical reactions including phosphodiester cleavage and ligation, RNA polymerization, redox reactions, carbon-carbon bond formation (Diels-Alder reaction), and many others.