RIBOZYMES AS THERAPEUTIC AGENTS

Ribozymes were identified when an RNA precursor was found to be self-s plicing; because this RNA was enzymatically active without the benefit of a protein component, it was termed a ribozyme, Ribozymes subsequen tly have been found not only to cleave themselves free from their RNA strand, but also to act in trans and cleave other RNA targets in a seq uence-specific manner. This specificity, associated with Watson-Crick base pairing, coupled with catalytic activity to cleave the substrate RNA, makes them potentially effective agents against mRNA of viral or oncogenic origin.