Removal of covalent heterogeneity reveals simple folding behavior for P4-P6 RNA.

ABSTRACT: RNA folding landscapes have been described alternately as simple and as complex. The limited diversity of RNA residues and the ability of RNA to form stable secondary structures prior to adoption of a tertiary structure would appear to simplify folding relative to proteins. Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence for long-lived misfolded RNA states, and these observations have suggested rugged energy landscapes. Recently, single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) studies have exposed heterogeneity in many RNAs, consistent with deeply furrowed rugged landscapes. We turned to an RNA of intermediate complexity, the P4-P6 domain from the Tetrahymena group I intron, to address basic questions in RNA folding. P4-P6 exhibited long-lived heterogeneity in smFRET experimen

SUBMITTER: Greenfeld M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3103363 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature