Structural Principles of Fluorescent RNA Aptamers

Overview

Journal Trends Pharmacol Sci

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2017 Jul 22

PMID 28728963

Citations 28

Authors

Robert J Trachman 3rd

Lynda Truong

Adrian R Ferre-DAmare

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Several aptamer RNAs have been selected in vitro that bind to otherwise weakly fluorescent small molecules and enhance their fluorescence several thousand-fold. By genetically tagging cellular RNAs of interest with these aptamers and soaking cells in their cell-permeable cognate small-molecule fluorophores, it is possible to use them to study RNA localization and trafficking. These aptamers have also been fused to metabolite-binding RNAs to generate fluorescent biosensors. The 3D structures of three unrelated fluorogenic RNAs have been determined, and reveal a shared reliance on base quadruples (tetrads) to constrain the photo-excited chromophore. The structural diversity of fluorogenic RNAs and the chemical diversity of potential fluorophores to be activated are likely to yield a variety of future fluorogenic RNA tags that are optimized for different applications in RNA imaging and in the design of fluorescent RNA biosensors.

Citing Articles

Allosteric genetically encoded biosensor for spatiotemporal monitoring of endogenous RNA dynamics in living cells.

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High-resolution structure of a novel fluorogenic RNA aptamer.

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Co-crystal structures of the fluorogenic aptamer Beetroot show that close homology may not predict similar RNA architecture.

Passalacqua L, Starich M, Link K, Wu J, Knutson J, Tjandra N Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):2969.

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