An improved version of the hairpin ribozyme functions as a ribonucleoprotein complex

The hairpin ribozyme can be manipulated to function properly in the form of a ribonucleoprotein in vitro and provides scope for future research of the mechanism of protein modulation of catalytic RNA activity. The incorporation of the protein-binding domain in the absence of protein increases the catalytic efficiency of the hairpin ribozyme by two times for the cleavage reaction and by sixteen times for the ligation reaction.