Characterizing RNA structures in vitro and in vivo with selective 2'-hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension sequencing (SHAPE-Seq)

Kyle E. Watters, Angela M. Yu, Eric J. Strobel, Alex H. Settle, Julius B. Lucks*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

RNA molecules adopt a wide variety of structures that perform many cellular functions, including, among others, catalysis, small molecule sensing, and cellular defense. Our ability to characterize, predict, and design RNA structures are key factors for understanding and controlling the biological roles of RNAs. Fortunately, there has been rapid progress in this area, especially with respect to experimental methods that can characterize RNA structures in a high throughput fashion using chemical probing and next-generation sequencing. Here, we describe one such method, selective 2'-hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension sequencing (SHAPE-Seq), which measures nucleotide resolution flexibility information for RNAs in vitro and in vivo. We outline the process of designing and performing a SHAPE-Seq experiment and describe methods for using experimental SHAPE-Seq data to restrain computational folding algorithms to generate more accurate predictions of RNA secondary structure. We also provide a number of examples of SHAPE-Seq reactivity spectra obtained in vitro and in vivo and discuss important considerations for performing SHAPE-Seq experiments, both in terms of collecting and analyzing data. Finally, we discuss improvements and extensions of these experimental and computational techniques that promise to deepen our knowledge of RNA folding and function.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)34-48
Number of pages15
JournalMethods
Volume103
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2016

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the Tri-Institutional Training Program in Computational Biology and Medicine [ NIH training grant T32GM083937 to AMY] and a New Innovator Award through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health [grant number 1DP2GM110838 to JBL]. KEW is a Fleming Scholar in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

  • In vivo RNA structure
  • RNA
  • RNA structure prediction
  • RNA structure probing
  • RNA-ligand interactions
  • SHAPE
  • SHAPE-Seq

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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