Small Molecule Ligands for Bulged RNA Secondary Structures

Small molecule ligands for bulged RNA secondary structures.

A class of wedge-shaped small molecules has been designed, synthesized, and shown to bind bulged RNA secondary structures. These minimally cationic ligands exhibit good affinity and selectivity for certain RNA bulges as demonstrated in a fluorescent intercalator displacement assay.

Chemical and functional diversity of small molecule ligands for RNA.

Functional RNAs such as ribosomal RNA and structured domains of mRNA are targets for small molecule ligands that can act as modulators of the RNA biological activity. Natural ligands for RNA display a bewildering structural and chemical complexity that has yet to be matched by synthetic RNA binders. Comparison of natural and artificial ligands for RNA may help to direct future approaches to des...

RNA Secondary Structures

The central dogma of molecular biology states that the flow of information is from DNA, through RNA, to proteins. What this means is that DNA is the storage medium of genomic information, while proteins are the molecules with functional and structural rôles. In this view, RNA is mostly considered a ‘supporting actor’, being the medium used for transporting information from storage to where it i...

Exact Pattern Matching for RNA Secondary Structures

A growth model for RNA secondary structures

A hierarchical model for the growth of planar arch structures for RNA secondary structures is presented, and shown to be equivalent to a tree-growth model. Both models can be solved analytically, giving access to scaling functions for large molecules, and corrections to scaling, checked by numerical simulations of up to 6500 bases. The equivalence of both models should be helpful in understandi...