Skip Navigation


Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access first published online on May 5, 2009
This version published online on May 20, 2009
Nucleic Acids Research, doi:10.1093/nar/gkp284
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow Print PDF (5422K) Freely available
Right arrow Screen PDF (662K) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
37/12/4022    most recent
gkp284v2
gkp284v1
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 Huang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Niu, L.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Huang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Niu, L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2009 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

RNA

One RNA aptamer sequence, two structures: a collaborating pair that inhibits AMPA receptors

Zhen Huang1, Weimin Pei1, Yan Han1, Sabarinath Jayaseelan1, Alexander Shekhtman1, Hua Shi2 and Li Niu1,*

1Department of Chemistry and Center for Neuroscience Research and 2Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12222, USA

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 518 591 8819; Fax: +1 518 591 8820; Email: lniu{at}albany.edu

Received October 7, 2008. Revised April 11, 2009. Accepted April 14, 2009.

RNA is ideally suited for in vitro evolution experiments, because a single RNA molecule possesses both genotypic (replicable sequence) and phenotypic (selectable shape) properties. Using systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), we found a single 58-nt aptamer sequence that assumes two structures with different functions, both of which are required to inhibit the GluR2 AMPA receptor channel. Yet, the two structures, once formed during transcription, appear to be incapable of interconverting through unfolding and refolding, presumably due to their extraordinary structural stability. Thus, our results suggest more broadly that natural RNA molecules can evolve to acquire alternative structures and associated functions. Such divergence of RNA phenotype may precede gene duplication at the genome level.


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.