High hydrostatic pressure approach proves RNA catalytic activity without magnesium

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) technique was used to evaluate a mechanism of RNA hydrolysis with RNA. We showed that hammerhead ribozyme specifically cleaves RNA substrate at HHP in the absence of Mg2+. A deoxyribozyme “10–23” was active in the same conditions. These results pointed out that the hydrolytic activity of nucleic acid depends on proper tertiary structure of a complex with a substrate. They prove that magnesium ion is not directly involved in catalysis process. On that basis we show the mechanism of RNA hydrolysis catalyzed with nucleic acids at HHP.