Investigation of de novo Totally Random Biosequences, Part IV : Folding Properties of de novo, Totally Random RNAs

✍ Scribed by Davide De Lucrezia; Marco Franchi; Cristiano Chiarabelli; Enzo Gallori; Pier Luigi Luisi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 198 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1612-1872
• DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.200690090

✦ Synopsis

This work lies within the framework of a broader project aimed at exploring the realm of all possible folded polypeptides; the main question addressed here is whether the corresponding RNAs also assume a folded conformation. We present an investigation on the structural properties of de novo, totally random RNAs by means of the RNA Foster assay. Experimental results show that all RNAs studied are folded at 378, so that fold seems to be a common feature of RNAs. Random RNAs fold shows a surprising thermal stability with an average T m value at ca. 508 which prompts the idea that thermo-stable structures might not be as rare as they are commonly thought to be. The results are discussed within the general framework of random RNA properties such as those that might have been produced in a prebiotic scenario.