Biophysicists have developed a method for studying, in real time, a nanoscale “docking and undocking” interaction between small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA), a technique that may be broadly useful in studying structural changes in RNA that affect its function. The research at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and University of Colorado at Boulder, may have applications in the design of effective new drugs based on small RNA strands. RNA is a chain-like molecule that contains genetic information, makes proteins and catalyzes biological reactions. Scientists at JILA are studying RNA using methods that reveal how individual chemical units of RNA dock, or lightly and temporarily bond, to form special three-dimensional shapes that exhibit biochemical activity. The latest work, to be published the week of July 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,* adds to understanding of the intramolecular “stickiness” between specific loops and sequences in the RNA that help stabilize this folding. This type of information is crucial to understanding RNA structure and, ultimately, how it affects function.
