Turning catalytically inactive human Argonaute proteins into active slicer enzymes

Argonaute (Ago) proteins that cleave target RNAs are known as slicer enzymes. Extensive mutagenesis studies combined with in vitro cleavage assays and structural modeling have now enabled catalytically inactive human Ago1 and Ago3 to be turned into slicer enzymes, providing insight into the molecular basis of human Ago1 and Ago3 inactivity.