{"id":3011,"date":"2012-04-16T11:02:39","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T16:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/college.web.unc.edu\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2024-07-02T13:28:33","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T13:28:33","slug":"rnanaturemethodsarticle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=3011","title":{"rendered":"Three-dimensional RNA modeling opens scientific doors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Left panel illustrates structure of metal-binding RNA. Using solvent exposure information, scientists can perform calculations to determine a set of possible structural models (right panel). (graphic courtesy of Nikolay Dokholyan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a paper published today in the journal Nature Methods<\/a>, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<\/a> demonstrates a simple, cost-effective technique for three-dimensional RNA structure prediction that will help scientists understand the structures, and ultimately the functions, of the RNA molecules that dictate almost every aspect of human cell behavior.\u00a0 When cell behavior goes wrong, diseases \u2013 including cancer and metabolic disorders \u2013 can be the result.<\/p>\n

Over the past five decades, scientists have described more than 80,000 protein structures, most of which are now publicly available and provide important information to medical researchers searching for targets for drug therapy.\u00a0 However, a similar effort to catalogue RNA structures has mapped only a few hundred RNA molecules.\u00a0 As a result, the potential of RNA molecules has just barely been developed as targets for new therapeutics.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo effectively target these molecules, researchers often need a three-dimensional picture of what they look like,\u201d says Nikolay Dokholyan, professor in the department of biochemistry and biophysics, and the project\u2019s co-leader. Kevin Weeks, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences and a UNC Lineberger member, is the other study co-leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Dr. Kevin Weeks\u2019 lab, we have developed a way to create a three-dimensional map of complex RNAs that are not amenable to study through other methods.\u00a0 It builds on information from a routine laboratory experiment, used in the past to evaluate RNA models from a qualitative standpoint.\u00a0 Our team has created a sophisticated quantitative model that uses this simple information to predict structures for large, complex RNA molecules, which have previously been beyond the reach of modeling techniques,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Dokholyan, who is a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a> and director of the UNC Center for Computational and Systems Biology, hopes that the method will help researchers who are trying to target RNAs molecules to change cellular metabolism in a way that ultimately reduces the effects of cellular diseases like cancer.\u00a0 He notes, \u201cRational, cost-effective screening for small molecules requires a good understanding of the targeted structure.\u00a0 We hope that this method will open doors to new findings applicable to a wide range of human diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other members of the research team include Feng Ding, Research Assistant Professor of biochemistry and biophysics,and Christopher Lavendar, a graduate student of in the department chemistry.<\/p>\n

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health<\/a> and the University of North Carolina Research Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a paper published today in the journal Nature Methods, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill demonstrates a simple, cost-effective technique for three-dimensional RNA structure prediction that will help scientists understand the structures, and ultimately the functions, of the RNA molecules that dictate almost every aspect of human cell behavior.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-sciences-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45250,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions\/45250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}