UNIT 11.13 Characterization of Conformational Dynamics of Bistable RNA by Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium NMR

Unlike proteins, a given RNA sequence can adopt more than a single conformation. The two (or more) conformations are long-lived and have similar stabilities, but interconvert only slowly. Such bi- or multistability is often linked to the biological functions of the RNA. This unit describes how nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can be used to characterize the conformational dynamics of bistable RNAs. Curr. Protoc. Nucleic Acid Chem. 55:11.13.1-11.13.16. © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: bistable RNA; RNA folding; real-time NMR; exchange spectroscopy; photo-caged RNA