title: A nucleotide-level coarse-grained model of RNA.
abstract: We present a new, nucleotide-level model for RNA, oxRNA, based on the coarse-graining methodology recently developed for the oxDNA model of DNA. The model is designed to reproduce structural, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of RNA, and the coarse-graining level aims to retain the relevant physics for RNA hybridization and the structure of single- and double-stranded RNA. In order to explore its strengths and weaknesses, we test the model in a range of nanotechnological and biological settings. Applications explored include the folding thermodynamics of a pseudoknot, the formation of a kissing loop complex, the structure of a hexagonal RNA nanoring, and the unzipping of a hairpin motif. We argue that the model can be used for efficient simulations of the structure of systems with thousands of base pairs, and for the assembly of systems of up to hundreds of base pairs. The source code implementing the model is released for public use.
authors: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors: Petr
authors: P
authors: Šulc
authors: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.
authors: Flavio
authors: F
authors: Romano
authors: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors: Thomas E
authors: TE
authors: Ouldridge
authors: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.
authors: Jonathan P K
authors: JP
authors: Doye
authors: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors: Ard A
authors: AA
authors: Louis
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA