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Updated: Jun 8, 2026
High Precision FRET at Single-molecule Level for Biomolecule Structure Determination
Published on: May 13, 2017
The structure and folding of branched RNA analyzed by fluorescence resonance energy transfer
1Cancer Research UK Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, MSI/WTB Complex, The University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a spectroscopic means of obtaining distance information over a range up to ~80Å in solution. It is based on the dipolar coupling between the electronic transition moments of a donor and acceptor fluorophore attached at known positions on the RNA species of interest. It can be applied in ensembles of molecules, either by steady-state fluorescence or by lifetime measurements, but it is also very appropriate for single-molecule studies. In addition to the provision of distance information, recent studies have emphasized the orientation dependence of energy transfer.
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