Predicting structure and stability for RNA complexes with intermolecular loop-loop base-pairing

cRNAsp12 Web Server for the Prediction of Circular RNA Secondary Structures and Stabilities

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel class of non-coding RNA that, unlike linear RNAs, form a covalently closed loop without the 5' and 3' ends. Growing evidence shows that circular RNAs play important roles in life processes and have great potential implications in clinical and research fields. The accurate modeling of circRNAs structure and stability has far-reaching impact on our understanding of their functions and our ability to develop RNA-based therapeutics. The cRNAsp12 server offers a user-friendly web interface to predict circular RNA secondary structures and folding stabilities from the sequence. Through the helix-based landscape partitioning strategy, the server generates distinct ensembles of structures and predicts the minimal free energy structures for each ensemble with the recursive partition function calculation and backtracking algorithms. For structure predictions in the limited structural ensemble, the server also provides users with the option to set the structural constraints of forcing the base pairs and/or forcing the unpaired bases, such that only structures that meet the criteria are enumerated recursively.

VfoldMCPX: predicting multistrand RNA complexes

Multistrand RNA complexes play a critical role in RNA-related biological processes. The understanding of RNA functions and the rational design of RNA nanostructures require accurate prediction of the structure and folding stability of the complexes, including those containing pseudoknots. Here, we present VfoldMCPX, a new model for predicting two-dimensional (2D) structures and folding stabilities of multistrand RNA complexes. Based on a partition function-based algorithm combined with physical loop free energy parameters, the VfoldMCPX model predicts not only the native structure but also the folding stability of the complex. An important advantage of the model is the ability to treat pseudoknotted structures. Extensive tests on structure predictions show the VfoldMCPX model provides improved accuracy for multistranded RNA complexes, especially for RNA complexes with three or more strands and/or containing pseudoknots. We have developed a freely accessible VfoldMCPX web server at http://rna.physics.missouri.edu/vfoldMCPX2.

Landscape Zooming toward the Prediction of RNA Cotranscriptional Folding

RNA molecules fold as they are transcribed. Cotranscriptional folding of RNA plays a critical role in RNA functions in vivo. Present computational strategies focus on simulations where large structural changes may not be completely sampled. Here, we describe an alternative approach to predicting cotranscriptional RNA folding by zooming in and out of the RNA folding energy landscape. By classifying the RNA structural ensemble into "partitions" based on long, stable helices, we zoom out of the landscape and predict the overall slow folding kinetics from the interpartition kinetic network, and for each interpartition transition, we zoom in on the landscape to simulate the kinetics. Applications of the model to the 117-nucleotide E. coli SRP RNA and the 59-nucleotide HIV-1 TAR RNA show agreements with the experimental data and new structural and kinetic insights into biologically significant conformational switches and pathways for these important systems. This approach, by zooming in/out of an RNA folding landscape at different resolutions, might allow us to treat large RNAs in vivo with transcriptional pause, transcription speed, and other in vivo effects.

In Silico Prediction for ncRNAs in Prokaryotes

The identification and characterization of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in prokaryotes is an important step in the study of the interaction of these molecules with mRNAs-or target proteins, in the post-transcriptional regulation process. Here, we describe one of the main in silico prediction methods in prokaryotes, using the TargetRNA2 tool to predict target mRNAs.

Thermostability, Tunability, and Tenacity of RNA as Rubbery Anionic Polymeric Materials in Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine-Specific Cancer Targeting with Undetectable Toxicity

RNA nanotechnology is the bottom-up self-assembly of nanometer-scale architectures, resembling LEGOs, composed mainly of RNA. The ideal building material should be (1) versatile and controllable in shape and stoichiometry, (2) spontaneously self-assemble, and (3) thermodynamically, chemically, and enzymatically stable with a long shelf life. RNA building blocks exhibit each of the above. RNA is a polynucleic acid, making it a polymer, and its negative-charge prevents nonspecific binding to negatively charged cell membranes. The thermostability makes it suitable for logic gates, resistive memory, sensor set-ups, and NEM devices. RNA can be designed and manipulated with a level of simplicity of DNA while displaying versatile structure and enzyme activity of proteins. RNA can fold into single-stranded loops or bulges to serve as mounting dovetails for intermolecular or domain interactions without external linking dowels. RNA nanoparticles display rubber- and amoeba-like properties and are stretchable and shrinkable through multiple repeats, leading to enhanced tumor targeting and fast renal excretion to reduce toxicities. It was predicted in 2014 that RNA would be the third milestone in pharmaceutical drug development. The recent approval of several RNA drugs and COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by FDA suggests that this milestone is being realized. Here, we review the unique properties of RNA nanotechnology, summarize its recent advancements, describe its distinct attributes inside or outside the body and discuss potential applications in nanotechnology, medicine, and material science.

RNA structures in alternative splicing and back-splicing

Alternative splicing greatly expands the transcriptomic and proteomic diversities related to physiological and developmental processes in higher eukaryotes. Splicing of long noncoding RNAs, and back- and trans- splicing further expanded the regulatory repertoire of alternative splicing. RNA structures were shown to play an important role in regulating alternative splicing and back-splicing. Application of novel sequencing technologies made it possible to identify genome-wide RNA structures and interaction networks, which might provide new insights into RNA splicing regulation in vitro to in vivo. The emerging transcription-folding-splicing paradigm is changing our understanding of RNA alternative splicing regulation. Here, we review the insights into the roles and mechanisms of RNA structures in alternative splicing and back-splicing, as well as how disruption of these structures affects alternative splicing and then leads to human diseases. This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing RNA Structure and Dynamics > Influence of RNA Structure in Biological Systems.

Topological constraints of RNA pseudoknotted and loop-kissing motifs: applications to three-dimensional structure prediction

An RNA global fold can be described at the level of helix orientations and relatively flexible loop conformations that connect the helices. The linkage between the helices plays an essential role in determining the structural topology, which restricts RNA local and global folds, especially for RNA tertiary structures involving cross-linked base pairs. We quantitatively analyze the topological constraints on RNA 3D conformational space, in particular, on the distribution of helix orientations, for pseudoknots and loop-loop kissing structures. The result shows that a viable conformational space is predominantly determined by the motif type, helix size, and loop size, indicating a strong topological coupling between helices and loops in RNA tertiary motifs. Moreover, the analysis indicates that (cross-linked) tertiary contacts can cause much stronger topological constraints on RNA global fold than non-cross-linked base pairs. Furthermore, based on the topological constraints encoded in the 2D structure and the 3D templates, we develop a 3D structure prediction approach. This approach can be further combined with structure probing methods to expand the capability of computational prediction for large RNA folds.

Structure folding of RNA kissing complexes in salt solutions: predicting 3D structure, stability, and folding pathway

RNA kissing complexes are essential for genomic RNA dimerization and regulation of gene expression, and their structures and stability are critical to their biological functions. In this work, we used our previously developed coarse-grained model with an implicit structure-based electrostatic potential to predict three-dimensional (3D) structures and stability of RNA kissing complexes in salt solutions. For extensive RNA kissing complexes, our model shows great reliability in predicting 3D structures from their sequences, and our additional predictions indicate that the model can capture the dependence of 3D structures of RNA kissing complexes on monovalent/divalent ion concentrations. Moreover, the comparisons with extensive experimental data show that the model can make reliable predictions on the stability for various RNA kissing complexes over wide ranges of monovalent/divalent ion concentrations. Notably, for RNA kissing complexes, our further analyses show the important contribution of coaxial stacking to the 3D structures and stronger stability than the corresponding kissing-interface duplexes at high salts. Furthermore, our comprehensive analyses for RNA kissing complexes reveal that the thermally folding pathway for a complex sequence is mainly determined by the relative stability of two possible folded states of kissing complex and extended duplex, which can be significantly modulated by its sequence.

Thermodynamic investigation of kissing-loop interactions

Kissing loop interactions (KLIs) are a common motif that is critical in retroviral dimerization, viroid replication, mRNA, and riboswitches. In addition, KLIs are currently used in a variety of biotechnology applications, such as in aptamer sensors, RNA scaffolds and to stabilize vaccines for therapeutics. Here we describe the thermodynamics of a basic intramolecular DNA capable of engaging in a KLI, consisting of two hairpins connected by a flexible linker. Each hairpin loop has a five-nucleotide complementary sequence theoretically capable of engaging in a KLI. On either side of each loop is two thymines which will not engage in kissing but are present to provide more flexibility and optimal KLI positioning. Our results suggest that the KLI occurs even at physiological salt levels, and that the KLI does not alter the thermodynamics and stability of the two stem structures. The KLI does not involve all five nucleotides, or at least each base-pair stack is not making full contact. Adding a second strand complementary to the bottom of the kissing complex removes flexibility and causes destabilization of the stems. The KLI of this less flexible complex is maintained but the T_M is reduced, indicating an entopic penalty to its formation.

Theory and Modeling of RNA Structure and Interactions with Metal Ions and Small Molecules

In addition to continuous rapid progress in RNA structure determination, probing, and biophysical studies, the past decade has seen remarkable advances in the development of a new generation of RNA folding theories and models. In this article, we review RNA structure prediction models and models for ion-RNA and ligand-RNA interactions. These new models are becoming increasingly important for a mechanistic understanding of RNA function and quantitative design of RNA nanotechnology. We focus on new methods for physics-based, knowledge-based, and experimental data-directed modeling for RNA structures and explore the new theories for the predictions of metal ion and ligand binding sites and metal ion-dependent RNA stabilities. The integration of these new methods with theories about the cellular environment effects in RNA folding, such as molecular crowding and cotranscriptional kinetic effects, may ultimately lead to an all-encompassing RNA folding model.

On the conformational stability of the smallest RNA kissing complexes maintained through two G·C base pairs

Two identical 5'GACG3' tetra-loop motifs with different stem sequences (called H2 and H3) are found in the 5' end region of Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (MMLV) genomic RNA. They play important roles in RNA dimerization and encapsidation through two identical tetra-loops (5'GACG3') forming a loop-to-loop kissing complex, the smallest RNA kissing complex ever found in nature. We examined the effects of a loop-closing base pair as well as a stem sequence on the conformational stability of the kissing complex. UV melting analysis and gel electrophoresis were performed on eight RNA sequences mimicking the H2 and H3 hairpin tetra-loops with variation in loop-closing base pairs. Our results show that changing the loop-closing base pair from the wildtype (5'A·U3' for H3, 5'U·A3' for H2) to 5'G·C3'/5'C·G3' has significant effect on the stability of the kissing complexes: the substitution to 5'C·G3' significantly decreases both thermal and mechanical stability, while switching to the 5'G·C3' significantly increases the mechanical stability only. The kissing complexes with the wildtype loop-closing base pairs (5'A·U3' for H3 and 5'U·A3' for H2) show different stability when attached to a different stem sequence (H2 stem vs. H3 stem). This suggests that not only the loop-closing base pair itself, but also the stem sequence, affects the conformational stability of the RNA kissing complex.

VfoldCPX Server: Predicting RNA-RNA Complex Structure and Stability

RNA-RNA interactions are essential for genomic RNA dimerization, mRNA splicing, and many RNA-related gene expression and regulation processes. The prediction of the structure and folding stability of RNA-RNA complexes is a problem of significant biological importance and receives substantial interest in the biological community. The VfoldCPX server provides a new web interface to predict the two-dimensional (2D) structures of RNA-RNA complexes from the nucleotide sequences. The VfoldCPX server has several novel advantages including the ability to treat RNAs with tertiary contacts (crossing base pairs) such as loop-loop kissing interactions and the use of physical loop entropy parameters. Based on a partition function-based algorithm, the server enables prediction for structure with and without tertiary contacts. Furthermore, the server outputs a set of energetically stable structures, ranked by their stabilities. The results allow users to gain extensive physical insights into RNA-RNA interactions and their roles in RNA function. The web server is freely accessible at “http://rna.physics.missouri.edu/vfoldCPX”.

Multistrand Structure Prediction of Nucleic Acid Assemblies and Design of RNA Switches

RNA is an attractive material for the creation of molecular logic gates that release programmed functionalities only in the presence of specific molecular interaction partners. Here we present HyperFold, a multistrand RNA/DNA structure prediction approach for predicting nucleic acid complexes that can contain pseudoknots. We show that HyperFold also performs competitively compared to other published folding algorithms. We performed a large variety of RNA/DNA hybrid reassociation experiments for different concentrations, DNA toehold lengths, and G+C content and find that the observed tendencies for reassociation correspond well to computational predictions. Importantly, we apply this method to the design and experimental verification of a two-stranded RNA molecular switch that upon binding to a single-stranded RNA toehold disease-marker trigger mRNA changes its conformation releasing an shRNA-like Dicer substrate structure. To demonstrate the concept, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) mRNA and enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) mRNA were chosen as trigger and target sequences, respectively. In vitro experiments confirm the formation of an RNA switch and demonstrate that the functional unit is being released when the trigger RNA interacts with the switch toehold. The designed RNA switch is shown to be functional in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Several other switches were also designed and tested. We conclude that this approach has considerable potential because, in principle, it allows the release of an siRNA designed against a gene that differs from the gene that is utilized as a biomarker for a disease state.

A Method to Predict the Structure and Stability of RNA/RNA Complexes

RNA/RNA interactions are essential for genomic RNA dimerization and regulation of gene expression. Intermolecular loop-loop base pairing is a widespread and functionally important tertiary structure motif in RNA machinery. However, computational prediction of intermolecular loop-loop base pairing is challenged by the entropy and free energy calculation due to the conformational constraint and the intermolecular interactions. In this chapter, we describe a recently developed statistical mechanics-based method for the prediction of RNA/RNA complex structures and stabilities. The method is based on the virtual bond RNA folding model (Vfold). The main emphasis in the method is placed on the evaluation of the entropy and free energy for the loops, especially tertiary kissing loops. The method also uses recursive partition function calculations and two-step screening algorithm for large, complicated structures of RNA/RNA complexes. As case studies, we use the HIV-1 Mal dimer and the siRNA/HIV-1 mutant (T4) to illustrate the method.

Physics-based RNA structure prediction

Despite the success of RNA secondary structure prediction for simple, short RNAs, the problem of predicting RNAs with long-range tertiary folds remains. Furthermore, RNA 3D structure prediction is hampered by the lack of the knowledge about the tertiary contacts and their thermodynamic parameters. Low-resolution structural modeling enables us to estimate the conformational entropies for a number of tertiary folds through rigorous statistical mechanical calculations. The models lead to 3D tertiary folds at coarse-grained level. The coarse-grained structures serve as the initial structures for all-atom molecular dynamics refinement to build the final all-atom 3D structures. In this paper, we present an overview of RNA computational models for secondary and tertiary structures’ predictions and then focus on a recently developed RNA statistical mechanical model—the Vfold model. The main emphasis is placed on the physics behind the models, including the treatment of the non-canonical interactions in secondary and tertiary structure modelings, and the correlations to RNA functions.

Computational and experimental studies of reassociating RNA/DNA hybrids containing split functionalities

Recently, we developed a novel technique based on RNA/DNA hybrid reassociation that allows conditional activation of different split functionalities inside diseased cells and in vivo. We further expanded this idea to permit simultaneous activation of multiple different functions in a fully controllable fashion. In this chapter, we discuss some novel computational approaches and experimental techniques aimed at the characterization, design, and production of reassociating RNA/DNA hybrids containing split functionalities. We also briefly describe several experimental techniques that can be used to test these hybrids in vitro and in vivo.

A Method to Predict the 3D Structure of an RNA Scaffold

The ever increasing discoveries of noncoding RNA functions draw a strong demand for RNA structure determination from the sequence. In recently years, computational studies for RNA structures, at both the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional levels, led to several highly promising new developments. In this chapter, we describe a recently developed RNA structure prediction method based on the virtual bond-based coarse-grained folding model (Vfold). The main emphasis in the Vfold method is placed on the loop entropy calculations, the treatment of noncanonical (mismatch) interactions and the 3D structure assembly from motif-based template library. As case studies, we use the glycine riboswitch and the G310-U376 domain of MLV RNA to illustrate the Vfold-based prediction of RNA 3D structures from the sequences.

Vfold: a web server for RNA structure and folding thermodynamics prediction

BACKGROUND

The ever increasing discovery of non-coding RNAs leads to unprecedented demand for the accurate modeling of RNA folding, including the predictions of two-dimensional (base pair) and three-dimensional all-atom structures and folding stabilities. Accurate modeling of RNA structure and stability has far-reaching impact on our understanding of RNA functions in human health and our ability to design RNA-based therapeutic strategies.

RESULTS

The Vfold server offers a web interface to predict (a) RNA two-dimensional structure from the nucleotide sequence, (b) three-dimensional structure from the two-dimensional structure and the sequence, and (c) folding thermodynamics (heat capacity melting curve) from the sequence. To predict the two-dimensional structure (base pairs), the server generates an ensemble of structures, including loop structures with the different intra-loop mismatches, and evaluates the free energies using the experimental parameters for the base stacks and the loop entropy parameters given by a coarse-grained RNA folding model (the Vfold model) for the loops. To predict the three-dimensional structure, the server assembles the motif scaffolds using structure templates extracted from the known PDB structures and refines the structure using all-atom energy minimization.

CONCLUSIONS

The Vfold-based web server provides a user friendly tool for the prediction of RNA structure and stability. The web server and the source codes are freely accessible for public use at "http://rna.physics.missouri.edu".