Isotope-Labeled RNA Building Blocks for NMR Structure and Dynamics Studies

Lukasz T Olenginski; Kehinde M Taiwo; Regan M LeBlanc; Theodore K Dayie

doi:10.3390/molecules26185581

Isotope-Labeled RNA Building Blocks for NMR Structure and Dynamics Studies

Molecules. 2021 Sep 14;26(18):5581. doi: 10.3390/molecules26185581.

Authors

Lukasz T Olenginski¹, Kehinde M Taiwo¹, Regan M LeBlanc^{1

2}, Theodore K Dayie¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
² Vertex Pharmaceuticals, 50 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA 02210, USA.

Abstract

RNA structural research lags behind that of proteins, preventing a robust understanding of RNA functions. NMR spectroscopy is an apt technique for probing the structures and dynamics of RNA molecules in solution at atomic resolution. Still, RNA analysis by NMR suffers from spectral overlap and line broadening, both of which worsen for larger RNAs. Incorporation of stable isotope labels into RNA has provided several solutions to these challenges. In this review, we summarize the benefits and limitations of various methods used to obtain isotope-labeled RNA building blocks and how they are used to prepare isotope-labeled RNA for NMR structure and dynamics studies.

Keywords: NMR spectroscopy; RNA; dynamics; enzymes; nucleotides; stable isotope; structure.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Isotope Labeling*
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
RNA*

Substances

RNA

Grants and funding

1808705/National Science Foundation