Ribozymes for specific inhibition of mRNA function in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
Kawahara, T.; Ohshima, Y.
Nucleic Acids Symposium Series 27: 45-46
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0261-3166 PMID: 1289822 Document Number: 387974
Nine different hammerhead ribozymes were designed for three specific sites of unc-22 mRNA in C. elegans, which carry the common catalytic core and 12, 16 or 20 flanking nucleotides for base pairing with the mRNA, and tested for cleavage of short substrate RNA in vitro. All the ribozymes cleaved the substrate RNA catalytically at 37 degrees C and the activities at 37 degrees C were higher for all the ribozymes than those at 20 degrees C, the nematode growth temperature. Plasmids carrying each of a few different promoters and lacZ reporter gene were prepared and tested in the nematode as a test of vectors for the expression of ribozymes in vivo.