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We introduce the SPlit-and-conQueR (SPQR) model, a coarse-grained representation of RNA designed for structure prediction and refinement. In our approach, the representation of a nucleotide consists of a point particle for the phosphate group and an anisotropic particle for the nucleoside. The interactions are, in principle, knowledge-based potentials inspired by the ESCORE function, a base-centered scoring function. However, a special treatment is given to base-pairing interactions and certain geometrical conformations which are lost in a raw knowledge-base model. This results in a representation able to describe planar canonical and non-canonical base pairs and base-phosphate interactions and to distinguish sugar puckers and glycosidic torsion conformations. The model is applied to the folding of several structures, including duplexes with internal loops of non-canonical base pairs, tetraloops, junctions and a pseudoknot. For the majority of these systems, experimental structures are correctly predicted at the level of individual contacts. We also propose a method for efficiently reintroducing atomistic detail from the coarse-grained representation.
RNA is a fundamental class of biomolecules that mediate a large variety of molecular processes within the cell. Computational algorithms can be of great help in the understanding of RNA structure-function relationship. One of the main challenges in t
RNA function crucially depends on its structure. Thermodynamic models currently used for secondary structure prediction rely on computing the partition function of folding ensembles, and can thus estimate minimum free-energy structures and ensemble p
No existing algorithm can start with arbitrary RNA sequences and return the precise, three-dimensional structures that ensures their biological function. This chapter outlines current algorithms for automated RNA structure prediction (including our o
RNA function is intimately related to its structural dynamics. Molecular dynamics simulations are useful for exploring biomolecular flexibility but are severely limited by the accessible timescale. Enhanced sampling methods allow this timescale to be
We introduce a method for predicting RNA folding pathways, with an application to the most important RNA tetraloops. The method is based on the idea that ensembles of three-dimensional fragments extracted from high-resolution crystal structures are h