Ribozymes: Possible New Tools for Treatment of Cancer and Retroviral Diseases?

Abstract

Ribozymes represent an exciting new class of sophisticated antisense molecules as they combine the inherent substrate sequence specificity of complementary nucleic acids with the ability to catalytically degrade and, thus, inactivate susceptible substrate RNAs. This article reviews the biology and biochemistry of this remarkable class of molecules and discusses the implications for clinical medicine.