Synchronous RNA conformational changes trigger ordered phase transitions in crystals.

ABSTRACT: Time-resolved studies of biomacromolecular crystals have been limited to systems involving only minute conformational changes within the same lattice. Ligand-induced changes greater than several angstroms, however, are likely to result in solid-solid phase transitions, which require a detailed understanding of the mechanistic interplay between conformational and lattice transitions. Here we report the synchronous behavior of the adenine riboswitch aptamer RNA in crystal during ligand-triggered isothermal phase transitions. Direct visualization using polarized video microscopy and atomic force microscopy shows that the RNA molecules undergo cooperative rearrangements that maintain lattice order, whose cell parameters change distinctly as a function of time. The bulk lattice order throughout

SUBMITTER: Ramakrishnan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7979858 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature