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RNA Structure

RNA Structure

RNA Structure

RNA Structure

Overview
The basic structure of RNA consists of a five-carbon sugar and one of four nitrogenous bases. Although most RNA is single-stranded, it can form complex secondary and tertiary structures. Such structures play essential roles in the regulation of transcription and translation.
Different Types of RNA Have the Same Basic Structure
There are three main types of ribonucleic acid (RNA): messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). All three RNA types consist of a...

RNA Structure

RNA Structure

The basic structure of RNA consists of a string of ribonucleotides attached by phosphodiester bonds. Although most RNA is single-stranded, it can form complex secondary and tertiary structures. Such structures play essential roles in the regulation of transcription and translation.
Different Types of RNA Have the Same Basic Structure
There are three main types of ribonucleic acid (RNA) involved in protein synthesis: messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). All three...

Types of RNA

Types of RNA

Three main types of RNA are involved in protein synthesis: messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). These RNAs perform diverse functions and can be broadly classified as protein-coding or non-coding RNA. Non-coding RNAs play important roles in regulating gene expression in response to developmental and environmental changes. Non-coding RNAs in prokaryotes can be manipulated to develop more effective antibacterial drugs for human or animal use.
RNA Performs Diverse...

Types of RNA

Types of RNA

Overview
Three main types of RNA are involved in protein synthesis: messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). These RNAs perform diverse functions and can be broadly classified as protein-coding or non-coding RNA. Non-coding RNAs play important roles in the regulation of gene expression in response to developmental and environmental changes. Non-coding RNAs in prokaryotes can be manipulated to develop more effective antibacterial drugs for human or animal use.
RNA...

Types of RNA

Types of RNA

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Probing RNA Structure with Dimethyl Sulfate Mutational Profiling with Sequencing In Vitro and in Cells

Probing RNA Structure with Dimethyl Sulfate Mutational Profiling with Sequencing In Vitro and in Cells

Published on: December 9, 2022

Undesignable motifs in structural RNAs and combinatorial consequences.

Hua-Ting Yao^1,2,3, Cedric Chauve^2,4,5, Mireille Regnier²

¹School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Journal of Mathematical Biology

|March 12, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Designing functional Ribonucleic Acids (RNA) becomes exponentially harder as target structures grow. Undesignable motifs contribute to this difficulty, impacting RNA sequence design.

Keywords:

Asymptotics Enumerative Combinatorics RNA Evolution RNA design Secondary structure

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Area of Science:

Computational biology
Biophysics
Molecular biology

Background:

RNA design seeks sequences with specific functions, often by targeting a secondary structure.
The inverse folding problem aims for unique folding into a target structure, which is not always possible.
Some secondary structures are 'undesignable,' lacking sequences that fold preferentially into them.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify the decreasing proportion of designable RNA secondary structures with increasing size.
To identify the role of 'undesignable motifs' in limiting RNA design.
To establish a lower bound for minimal ensemble defect and analyze its distribution.

Main Methods:

Analyzing the proportion of designable secondary structures across different energy models and design objectives.
Identifying and analyzing undesignable motifs within RNA structures.
Defining and deriving a lower bound for minimal ensemble defect.
Investigating the statistical distribution of this lower bound for uniformly distributed secondary structures.

Main Results:

The fraction of designable secondary structures decreases exponentially with their size.
Undesignable motifs are a key factor contributing to this exponential decay.
A lower bound for minimal ensemble defect is defined and shown to follow a normal distribution.
Both the expected value and variance of this distribution grow linearly with secondary structure size.

Conclusions:

RNA secondary structure design becomes significantly more challenging for larger structures due to inherent limitations.
Understanding undesignable motifs is crucial for advancing RNA design algorithms.
The statistical properties of minimal ensemble defect provide insights into the predictability of RNA folding.