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Updated: May 25, 2026

Monitoring Equilibrium Changes in RNA Structure by 'Peroxidative' and 'Oxidative' Hydroxyl Radical Footprinting
Published on: October 17, 2011
Hydrostatic and osmotic pressure study of the RNA hydration
Małgorzata Giel-Pietraszuk1, Jan Barciszewski
1Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704 Poznań, Poland. giel@ibch.poznan.pl
Abstract:
The tertiary structure of nucleic acids results from an equilibrium between electrostatic interactions of phosphates, stacking interactions of bases, hydrogen bonds between polar atoms and water molecules. Water interactions with ribonucleic acid play a key role in its structure formation, stabilization and dynamics. We used high hydrostatic pressure and osmotic pressure to analyze changes in RNA hydration. We analyzed the lead catalyzed hydrolysis of tRNAPhe from S. cerevisiae as well as hydrolytic activity of leadzyme. Pb(II) induced hydrolysis of the single phosphodiester bond in tRNAPhe is accompanied by release of 98 water molecules, while other molecule, leadzyme releases 86.
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