Gene Shears Pty. Limited

Rhonda Perriman

Marianne Stapper

Paul Keese

Ribozymes with optimized hybridizing arms, stems, and loops, tRNA

This invention is directed to improved catalytic compounds, hammerhead ribozymes, capable of hybridizing with a target RNA to be cleaved. These improved compounds have optimized stems (X)m * (X)m', loops (X)b and hybridizing arms. The invention is also directed to compositions for enhanced RNA cleavage which comprise a first synthetic non-naturally occurring oligonucleotide compound which comprises nucleotides whose sequence defines a conserved catalytic region and nucleotides whose sequence is capable of hybridizing with a predetermined target sequence and a second synthetic non-naturally occurring oligonucleotide which does not contain the predetermined target sequence and is complementary to at least a portion of the first oligonucleotide compound. The invention is also directed to synthetic non-naturally occurring oligonucleotide compounds embedded in a tRNA. The ribozymes and compositions of the present invention may be used in vitro or in vivo. They may be used as diagnostic or therapeutic agents.

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O'Connor, Australia

Rhonda Perriman