title: Statistical thermodynamics for chain molecules with simple RNA tertiary contacts.
abstract: A statistical thermodynamic model is developed for chain molecules with simple RNA tertiary contacts. The model, which accounts for the excluded volume effect and the nonadditivity in the free energy, enables reliable predictions for the conformational entropy and partition function for simple tertiary folds. Illustrative applications are made to conformational transitions involving simple tertiary contacts. The model can predict the interplay between the secondary and the tertiary interactions in the conformational changes. Though the present form of the theory is tested and validated in a two-dimensional lattice model, the methodology, which is developed based on a general graphical representation for chain conformations, is applicable to any off-lattice chain representations. Moreover, the analytical formulation of the method makes possible the systematic development of the theory for more complex tertiary structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Zoia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kopeikin
authors.forename: Shi-Jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012313:RNA