Informatics challenges in structured RNA

Brief Bioinform. 2007 Sep;8(5):294-303. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbm026. Epub 2007 Jul 4.

Abstract

The world of regulatory RNAs is fast expanding into mainstream molecular biology as both a subject of intense mechanistic study and as a tool for functional characterization. The RNA world is one of complex structures that carry out catalysis, sense metabolites and synthesize proteins. The dynamic and structural nature of RNAs presents a whole new set of informatics challenges to the computational community. The ability to relate structure and dynamics to function will be key to understanding this complex world. I review several important classes of structured RNAs that present our community with a series of biologically novel informatics challenges. I also review available informatics tools that have been recently developed in the field.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Computational Biology / trends*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • RNA / chemistry*
  • RNA / genetics
  • RNA / ultrastructure*
  • RNA Interference*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • RNA