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Updated: Sep 26, 2025

Practical Aspects of Sample Preparation and Setup of 1H R1ρ Relaxation Dispersion Experiments of RNA
Published on: July 9, 2021
Isotope Labels Combined with Solution NMR Spectroscopy Make Visible the Invisible Conformations of Small-to-Large
Theodore K Dayie1, Lukasz T Olenginski1, Kehinde M Taiwo1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
Abstract:
RNA is central to the proper function of cellular processes important for life on earth and implicated in various medical dysfunctions. Yet, RNA structural biology lags significantly behind that of proteins, limiting mechanistic understanding of RNA chemical biology. Fortunately, solution NMR spectroscopy can probe the structural dynamics of RNA in solution at atomic resolution, opening the door to their functional understanding. However, NMR analysis of RNA, with only four unique ribonucleotide building blocks, suffers from spectral crowding and broad linewidths, especially as RNAs grow in size. One effective strategy to overcome these challenges is to introduce NMR-active stable isotopes into RNA. However, traditional uniform labeling methods introduce scalar and dipolar couplings that complicate the implementation and analysis of NMR measurements. This challenge can be circumvented with selective isotope labeling. In this review, we outline the development of labeling technologies and their application to study biologically relevant RNAs and their complexes ranging in size from 5 to 300 kDa by NMR spectroscopy.
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