Unveiling the “Invisible” Regulatory States in RNA

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1 Unveiling the “Invisible” Regulatory States in RNA
生物医学与物理数学交叉系列讲座-第十讲 Unveiling the “Invisible” Regulatory States in RNA 报告人：Qi Zhang 教授 邀请人：唐淳 研究员 时 间：8月28日（周二）10: 地 点：新波谱楼1017 报告摘要： RNA folds and balances between distinct conformational states for function. Riboswitches, a class of non-coding regulatory RNAs composed of a ligand-sensing domain and an expression platform, are known to control gene expression by folding into alternative conformations upon specific recognition of cellular cues. However, a molecular understanding of the dynamic interplay between the sensing domain and the expression platform that underlies riboswitch regulation remains elusive. Here, by developing and applying nucleic-acid-optimized chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) NMR spectroscopy, together with mutagenesis and functional measurements, we show that conformational kinetics of the riboswitch serves as a new layer of regulation, where ligand-dependent accessibility of a low-populated and short-lived RNA state guides distinct co-transcriptional folding pathways to direct gene expression outcome. Our results provide an integrated molecular mechanism for transcriptional riboswitches and exemplify a new mode of ligand-dependent RNA regulation.  报告人简介： Qi Zhang, 美国北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校生物化学与生物物理系教授。张教授主要致力于发展和应用先进的溶液核磁共振方法研究非编码RNA的动态结构和功能，包括核酶的催化，核糖开关相关的基因调控，RNA的共转录折叠等，先后在Nat Chem Biol, PNAS, JACS, Nucleic Acids Res等权威期刊发表多篇高水平学术论文。