Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Print PDF (638K)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Commercial Re-use Guidelines
for Open Access NAR Content
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ghribi, S.
Right arrow Articles by Favre, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ghribi, S.
Right arrow Articles by Favre, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Nucleic Acids Research, 1988, Vol. 16, No. 3 1095-1112
© 1988

Articles

Evidence for tertiary structure in natural single stranded RNAs in solution

Sylvie Ghribi1, Marie-Christine Maurel2, Michel Rougee3 and Alain Favre*

Institut J.Monod, Laboratoire de Phatobiologie Moléculaire 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris Cédex 05, France

*To whom correspondence should be addressed

Received November 20, 1987. Accepted January 13, 1988.

Binding isotherms (20°C) of ethidium bromide to a number of tRNA species at various ionic strengths indicate that i) the number ni of intercalation sites is high 7 to 11 per molecule, In the low salt form III, but small, 2 to 1, at high Mg2+ or Na+ when form I predominates. ii) modification of tRNA at strategic positions for 3D folding prevents full expression of intercalation restriction iii) maximal restriction is obtained at salt concentrations higher than needed for full conversion to form I. It is inferred that restriction, which is not observed with bihelical RNA (or DNA), requires the native tRNA 3D structure but also some physical coupling between the region of 3D folding and bihelical arms.

Ribosomal RNAs, some viral RNAs, mRNA from sheep mammary gland as well as the random copolymers Poly UG, Poly AUG, Poly AUCG all exhibit intercalation restriction. Hence 3D folding of the polyribonucleotide chains appears to be a feature common to single-stranded RNAs when free in solution under physiological conditions.

1Present addresses: Université Nancy I, Faculté des Sciences Laboratoire d'Enzymologie et de Génie Génétique, BP 239 54506, Vandoeuvre les Nancy Cédex

2Present addresses: Institut Jacques Monod, Laboratoire de Biochimie de I'Evolution, INSERM U 201

3Present addresses: Laboratoire de Biophysique du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris Ve), INSERM U 201


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.