Related Experiment Videos
RNA unwinding assay for DExD/H-box RNA helicases
Stephanie S Tseng-Rogenski1, Tien-Hsien Chang
1Department of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Abstract:
The evolutionarily conserved DExD/H-box proteins are essential for all RNA-related biological processes. They are thought to modulate the structure and function of specific RNAs and/or ribonucleoprotein particles by using their intrinsic RNA-dependent ATPase activities to achieve the desired conformational changes. A number of DExD/H-box proteins have been shown to unwind short RNA duplexes in vitro, a hallmark of the so-called RNA helicases or unwindases. However, some are unable to do so, perhaps because of requirements for cofactors. Here, we present a "solid-state" method that may allow investigators to overcome such problems.