Coordination of RNAs for structural and enzymatic studies

RNAs perform a variety of important roles in cells, from acting as trans regulators (e.g. siRNA and lncRNA) of many cellular processes to catalyzing peptide bond formation in the ribosome, and carry the genetic information of retroviruses like HIV and Ebola. The structures of these RNAs play a critical role in their functions, and larger RNAs typically move through an ensemble of structural states to function. We are using nucleic acid origami to coordinate RNA structures for two branches of study: (1) to stabilize large RNAs in a single conformation at a time, enabling cryo-EM imaging and reconstruction of what otherwise would be highly noisy structures; and (2) to determine which components of ribonucleoprotein complexes like the ribosome are catalytic and work towards assembling protein-free or minimal-protein enzymes.