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Folding of branched RNA species
Author(s) -
Lilley David M. J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0282(1998)48:2<101::aid-bip2>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - chemistry , ribozyme , stacking , rna , hairpin ribozyme , folding (dsp implementation) , nucleotide , base pair , directionality , biophysics , crystallography , biochemistry , dna , biology , genetics , gene , organic chemistry , electrical engineering , engineering
The global structures of branched RNA species are important to their function. Branched RNA species are defined as molecules in which double‐helical segments are interrupted by abrupt discontinuities. These include helical junctions of different orders, and base bulges and loops. Common helical junctions are three‐ and four‐way junctions, often interrupted by mispairs or additional nucleotides. There are many interesting examples of functional RNA junctions, including the hammerhead and hairpin ribozymes, and junctions that serve as binding sites for proteins. The junctions display some common structural properties. These include a tendency to undergo pairwise helical stacking and ion‐induced conformational transitions. Helical branchpoints can act as key architectural components and as important sites for interactions with proteins. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopoly 48: 101–112, 1998