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Application of Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism for RNA Structural Analysis

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RNA Spectroscopy

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2113))

Abstract

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a fast and simple technique providing important information about the conformation of nucleic acids, proteins, sugars, lipids, and their interactions between each other. This electronic absorption spectroscopy method is extremely sensitive to any change in molecular structure containing asymmetric molecules. While numerous reviews describe how to analyze deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structures using CD, analyses of ribonucleic acids (RNAs) are scarce. Nevertheless, RNAs are important molecules involved in a multitude of roles in the cell. In this chapter, we present applications of synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD) extending the spectral range down to 170 nm, improving structural analysis of RNA, including the analysis of helical parameters and alternative structures found in RNA. The effects of temperature to measure thermodynamic parameters and analyze ribonucleoprotein complexes will also be presented.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Synchrotron SOLEIL, CNRS, and CEA. SRCD measurements on DISCO beamline at SOLEIL Synchrotron were performed under proposal # 20181037. We are grateful to R.R. Sinden (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA) for critical reading of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Léon Brillouin LLB, CEA, CNRS UMR12, Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Etienne Le Brun & Véronique Arluison

  2. Université de Paris, Paris, France

    Véronique Arluison

  3. Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers Saint Aubin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Frank Wien

Authors
  1. Etienne Le Brun
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  2. Véronique Arluison
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  3. Frank Wien
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Wien .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Paris, Paris, France, Laboratoire Léon Brillouin LLB, CEA, CNRS UMR12, Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Véronique Arluison

  2. Synchrotron SOLEIL L’Orme des Merisiers Saint Aubin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Frank Wien

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Le Brun, E., Arluison, V., Wien, F. (2020). Application of Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism for RNA Structural Analysis. In: Arluison, V., Wien, F. (eds) RNA Spectroscopy. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2113. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0278-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0278-2_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0277-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0278-2

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