Cui Xiaoxia, Davis Greg
Sigma-Aldrich Biotechnology, Research and Development, St. Louis, MO 63103, USA.
Front Biosci. 2007 Sep 1;12:4972-85. doi: 10.2741/2442.
Mobile group II introns are ribozymes and use a novel mechanism--target DNA-primed reverse transcription--to proliferate in DNA. Group II introns are a unique mobile element for their high sequence-specific, yet readily flexible target site recognition. Both the intron RNA and the intron-encoded protein (IEP) are involved in target site recognition, and the specificity is determined primarily by base pairing between the intron RNA and DNA target. Therefore, the intron RNA can be modified according to the desired target sequence for specific gene disruption. Group II intron knockout technology is mature in bacteria and is currently being developed in eukaryotes. This technology has great potential to revolutionize fields such as functional genomics, gene therapy, and cell line engineering.
移动II组内含子是核酶，它们利用一种新机制——靶DNA引发的逆转录——在DNA中增殖。II组内含子是一种独特的可移动元件，因其具有高度的序列特异性，但又能灵活识别靶位点。内含子RNA和内含子编码蛋白（IEP）都参与靶位点识别，其特异性主要由内含子RNA与DNA靶之间的碱基配对决定。因此，可根据特定基因破坏所需的靶序列对内含子RNA进行修饰。II组内含子敲除技术在细菌中已成熟，目前正在真核生物中进行开发。该技术在功能基因组学、基因治疗和细胞系工程等领域具有变革性的巨大潜力。
