Work

RNA folding causes secondary structure rearrangement

Year: 1998

Type: article

Abstract: The secondary structure of the P5abc subdomain (a 56-nt RNA) of the Tetrahymena thermophila group I intron ribozyme has been determined by NMR. Its base pairing in aqueous solution in the absence of magnesium ions is significantly different from the RNA in a crystal but is consistent with thermodynamic predictions. On addition of magnesium ions, the RNA folds into a tertiary structure with greatly changed base pairing consistent with the crystal structure: three Watson-Crick base pairs, three G.U base pairs, and an extra-stable tetraloop are lost. The common assumption that RNA folds by first forming secondary structure and then forming tertiary interactions from the unpaired bases is not always correct.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.20.11555

Authors: Ming Wu, Ignacio Tinoco

Institutions: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Awards: G3676917958, STRUCTURE/FUNCTION OF NUCLEIC ACIDS, Structure and Function of Nucleic Acids