Application of NMR Spectroscopy to Determine Small RNA Structure

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a key experimental method to investigate the structure and dynamics of RNA. RNA often has only partially ordered structures responsible for its function, which makes it difficult to crystallize. In this chapter, we present the methodologies for RNA structure determination by liquid-state NMR, including the preparation of isotopically labeled RNA by in vitro transcription, NMR resonance assignment strategy, and structure calculation. Selected examples of NMR spectra are given for the first stem-loop of DsrA RNA (23 nt).