Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.132, No.46, 16352-16353, 2010
Discrete Structure of an RNA Folding Intermediate Revealed by Cryo-electron Microscopy
RNA folding occurs via a series of transitions between metastable intermediate states. It is unknown whether folding intermediates are discrete structures folding along defined pathways or heterogeneous ensembles folding along broad landscapes. We use cryo-electron microscopy and single-particle image reconstruction to determine the structure of the major folding intermediate of the specificity domain of a ribonuclease P ribozyme. Our results support the existence of a discrete conformation for this folding intermediate.