Toehold-VISTA: a machine learning approach to decipher programmable RNA sensor-target interactions

RNA-based biosensors have emerged as essential tools in synthetic biology and diagnostics, enabling precise and programmable responses to diverse RNA inputs. However, the time to design, produce, and screen high-performance RNA sensors remains a critical challenge. The fundamental rules governing RNA-RNA interactions-specifically the structure-function relationships that determine sensor performance-remain poorly understood. Here, we present a method enabling versatile in-silico RNA-targeting analysis (VISTA), a machine learning-guided framework for the rapid design of RNA sensors. VISTA integrates biophysical modeling of both sensor and target RNAs with a partial least squares discriminant analysis machine learning framework. Using high-throughput experimental measurements with sequence-structure feature extraction to train predictive models, we capture the key determinants of RNA sensor performance. By using toehold switches as a model RNA sensor, we find that Toehold-VISTA successfully designs RNA sensors with improved performance against SARS-CoV-2 RNA. These findings establish a broadly applicable, target-aware design strategy for accelerating RNA sensor engineering across biotechnology and diagnostic applications.