A new class of ribozyme from hepatitis B virus.

In this issue, Chakraborty and Ghosh present initial in vitro data indicating a 53-base part of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) epsilon region is a ribozyme with unusual properties. Self-cleavage first occurred at the HBV non-canonical polyadenylation signal UAUAAA and the "centre bulge" of the epsilon region, releasing a ribozyme. The released ribozyme then acted as a new class of trans-cleaving ribozyme cleaving other RNAs.