New developments in structure determination of pseudoknots
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Updated: Oct 13, 2026

Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA
Published on: April 26, 2013
C W Hilbers1, P J Michiels, H A Heus
1NSR Center for Molecular Structure, Design and Synthesis, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. ceesh@sci.kun.nl
Abstract:
Recently, several high-resolution structures of-RNA pseudoknots have become available. Here we review the progress in this area. The majority of the structures obtained belong to the classical or H-type pseudoknot family. The most complicated pseudoknot structure elucidated so far is the Hepatitis Delta Virus ribozyme, which forms a nested double pseudoknot. In particular, the structure-function relationships of the H-type pseudoknots involved in translational frameshifting have received much attention. All molecules considered show interesting new structural motifs.
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