title: Calculations of nucleic acid conformations.
abstract: The present computational power and sophistication of theoretical approaches to nucleic acid structural investigation are sufficient for the realization of static and dynamic models that correlate accurately with current crystallographic, NMR and solution-probing structural data, and consequently are able to provide valuable insights and predictions for a variety of nucleic acid conformational families. In molecular dynamics simulations, the year 1995 was marked by the foray of fast Ewald methods, an accomplishment resulting from several years' work in the search for an adequate treatment of the electrostatic long-range forces so primordial in nucleic acid behavior. In very large systems, and particularly in the RNA-folding field, techniques originating from artificial intelligence research, like constraint satisfaction programming or genetic algorithms, have established their utility and potential.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Modélisations et Simulations des Acides. Nucléiques, UPR 9002, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Louise-May
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Auffinger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Westhof
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D004278:DNA, Superhelical / Q000737:chemistry; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000737:chemistry; D011485:Protein Binding; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry; D016615:Telomere / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004278:DNA, Superhelical; D009705:Nucleosides; C051802:triplex DNA; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA