Colloquium
Biophysical Studies of RNA:
Physical Approaches to Biological Questions
Prof. Meredith Newby
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Clemson University
Thursday, January
31, 2008,
1:40 p.m., SCIC 126
Our lab’s research interests focus on how the
physical and chemical properties of ribonucleic acid (RNA) dictate its
multifaceted role in the cell. From a structural scaffold, to a carrier of
genetic information, to a catalyst, RNA is quite a molecular chameleon,
changing its “colors” over the course of evolution to adapt to
diverse scenarios within the cellular environment. Impressively, unlike
proteins, RNA has does this with a limited chemical repertoire of only four
nitrogenous base side chains, and in some instances additionally utilizes
specifically incorporated post-transcriptional modifications and/or metal,
protein, or small metabolite ligands. It is now
known that >98% of the DNA in the human genome does not code for protein,
and much of this DNA is transcribed into RNA molecules that fulfill
regulatory functions in the cell. These recent discoveries have given rise
to a greater sense of urgency in the last few years in understanding RNA
structure and function, and have also shed light on RNA’s potential
as a therapeutic agent, and as a target for novel drug design. As such, we
are interested in the structural and dynamic properties of RNA that
facilitate its structural and functional versatility in the cell,
ultimately pursuing the questions that surround its role in the
manifestation of many diseases. Our research methods consist of a
multilayer approach, taken from the intersection of biology, chemistry, and
physics, although our primary investigative tools are based in physics: NMR
spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy.
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