Optimal computer folding of large RNA sequences using thermodynamics and auxiliary information

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Zuker, Michael, Stiegler, Patrick·1981·Nucleic Acids Research

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Abstract

This paper presents a new computer method for folding an RNA molecule that finds a conformation of minimum free energy using published values of stacking and destabilizing energies. It is based on a dynamic programming algorithm from applied mathematics, and is much more efficient, faster, and can fold larger molecules than procedures which have appeared up to now in the biological literature. Its power is demonstrated in the folding of a 459 nucleotide immunoglobulin gamma 1 heavy chain messenger RNA fragment. We go beyond the basic method to show how to incorporate additional information into the algorithm. This includes data on chemical reactivity and enzyme susceptibility. We illustrate this with the folding of two large fragments from the 16S ribosomal RNA of Escherichia coli.

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Authors: Zuker, M., & Stiegler, P.
Venue: Nucleic Acids Research
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 1981
Volume: 9
Issue: 1
Pages: 133-148
ISSN: 0305-1048 (ISSN-L)
1362-4962
DOI: 10.1093/nar/9.1.133
OpenAlex: W2025763720
Cited by: 3,562
References: 0
FWCI: 15.23
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green

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Optimal computer folding of large RNA sequences using thermodynamics and auxiliary information

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