Lanthanide ions as versatile catalyst in biochemistry: Efficient site-selective scission of RNA by free lanthanide ions

Novel systems for site-selective RNA scission are prepared by combining lanthanide(III) ions with oligonucleotides bearing an acridine. The modified oligonucleotide forms a heteroduplex with the substrate RNA, and selectively activates the phosphodiester linkages in front of the acridine. As a result, these linkages are preferentially hydrolyzed over the others, even though the lanthanide(III) ions are not fixed anywhere. The scission is efficient under physiological conditions, irrespective of the sequence at the target site. Effect of the kind of the lanthanide on the scission is emphasized.