Conformational transitions within an RNA enzyme
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Biological catalysis hinges on the precise structural integrity of an active site that binds and transforms its substrates and meeting this requirement presents a unique challenge for RNA enzymes (ribozymes). Functional RNAs, including ribozymes, fold into their active conformations within rugged energy landscapes that often contain misfolded conformers and must undergo structural rearrangements to assume functional structures. Here I describe a series of projects that uncover conformational transitions within the active site of the group I ribozyme. Most generally, the results described in this thesis underscore RNA's tendency to form alternative structures, even within an RNA active site, and highlight the important of RNA conformational changes in allowing RNA to navigate a rugged conformational landscape. Despite the apparent difficulties that RNA faces in specifying a unique structure that would be optimal for catalysis, RNA enzymes have persisted to the modern day, and several of them, including the spliceosome and ribosome, coordinate complex multistep processes. Perhaps RNA's folding "problem" has been harnessed by Nature to evolve dynamic ribonucleoproteins such as the ribosome and spliceosome, which undergo local and global conformational changes during their functional cycles.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Sengupta, Raghuvir N |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biochemistry. |
| Primary advisor | Herschlag, Daniel |
| Thesis advisor | Herschlag, Daniel |
| Thesis advisor | Das, Rhiju |
| Thesis advisor | Krasnow, Mark, 1956- |
| Advisor | Das, Rhiju |
| Advisor | Krasnow, Mark, 1956- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Raghuvir N. Sengupta. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biochemistry. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Raghuvir N Sengupta
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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