title: Emerging structural themes in large RNA molecules.
abstract: Extensive networks of tertiary interactions give rise to unique, highly organized domain architectures that characterize the three-dimensional structure of large RNA molecules. Formed by stacked layers of a near-planar arrangement of contiguous coaxial helices, large RNA molecules are relatively flat in overall shape. The functional core of these molecules is stabilized by a diverse set of tertiary interaction motifs that often bring together distant regions of conserved nucleotides. Although homologous RNAs from different organisms can be structurally diverse, they adopt a structurally conserved functional core that includes preassembled active and/or substrate binding sites. These findings broaden our understanding of RNA folding and tertiary structure stabilization, illustrating how large, complex RNAs assemble into unique structures to perform recognition and catalysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.forename: Clarence W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mondragón
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D016384:Consensus Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; D012313:RNA; D000241:Adenosine