Research

Overview    |    Protein Modification Reactions    |    DNA Substrate Reactions    |    Small-Molecule Reactions    |    RNA Ligation    |    Funding

DNA-Catalyzed RNA Ligation

Many of our laboratory's initial studies with deoxyribozymes focused on ligation reactions of RNA substrates. These experiments revealed many interesting facets of DNA-catalyzed chemical selectivity, including the ability of DNA to mediate highly selective reactions of RNA functional groups. For example, we showed that various deoxyribozymes have the ability to create either native 3'-5' RNA linkages or 2',5'-branched RNA linkages with very high selectivity and broad tolerance of RNA substrate sequences. We applied branch-forming deoxyribozymes in a new method for site-specific RNA labeling.

Representative Publications

  • "Improved Deoxyribozymes for Synthesis of Covalently Branched DNA and RNA", C. S. Lee, T. P. Mui, and S. K. Silverman, Nucleic Acids Res.. 2011, 39, 269-279. [pdf] [Supp Info] [PubMed entry]
  • "Deoxyribozymes: Selection Design and Serendipity in the Development of DNA Catalysts", S. K. Silverman, Acc. Chem. Res.. 2009, 42, 1521-1531. [pdf] [PubMed entry]
  • "Deoxyribozyme-Catalyzed Labeling of RNA", D. A. Baum and  S. K. Silverman, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 3502-3504. [pdf] [Supp Info] [PubMed entry]
  • "General Deoxyribozyme-Catalyzed Synthesis of Native 3'–5' RNA Linkages", W. E. Purtha, R. L. Coppins, M. K. Smalley, and S. K. Silverman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 13124-13125. [pdf] [Supp Info] [PubMed entry]
  • "A Deoxyribozyme That Forms a Three-Helix-Junction Complex With Its RNA Substrates and Has General RNA Branch-Forming Activity", R. L. Coppins and S. K. Silverman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 2900-2907. [pdf] [Supp Info] [PubMed entry]