Relating Structure and Dynamics in RNA Biology
- Kevin P. Larsen1,2,4,
- Junhong Choi1,3,4,
- Arjun Prabhakar1,2,
- Elisabetta Viani Puglisi1 and
- Joseph D. Puglisi1
- 1Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305
- 2Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
- 3Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
- Correspondence: puglisi{at}stanford.edu; epuglisi{at}stanford.edu
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↵4 These authors contributed equally to this work.
SUMMARY
Recent advances in structural biology methods have enabled a surge in the number of RNA and RNA–protein assembly structures available at atomic or near-atomic resolution. These complexes are often trapped in discrete conformational states that exist along a mechanistic pathway. Single-molecule fluorescence methods provide temporal resolution to elucidate the dynamic mechanisms of processes involving complex RNA and RNA–protein assemblies, but interpretation of such data often requires previous structural knowledge. Here we highlight how single-molecule tools can directly complement structural approaches for two processes––translation and reverse transcription—to provide a dynamic view of molecular function.
