A peptidyl transferase ribozyme capable of combinatorial peptide synthesis

The formation of peptide bonds is a key step in both the chemical and biological synthesis of peptides. The ribozyme can use a wide range of amino acids as its substrate for the dipeptide synthesis. A library containing 29 peptides whose synthesis was catalyzed by this unique ribozyme was analyzed by mass spectrometry. These results implicate that ribozyme may have potential application in the peptide synthesis.