Chemical Probing of RNA Structure In Vivo Using SHAPE-MaP and DMS-MaP.

Abstract

The functional roles of RNAs are often regulated by their structure. Selective 2' hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension (SHAPE) and dimethyl sulfate (DMS) base reactivity can be employed to investigate the flexibility of nucleotides and correlate it to the constraints imparted by base-pairing and/or protein-binding. In vivo, a multitude of proteins could bind an RNA molecule, regulating its structure and function. Hence, to obtain a more comprehensive view of the RNA structure-function relationship in vivo, it may be required to characterize both the RNA structure and the RNA-protein interaction network. In this chapter, we describe methods for characterizing the in vivo nucleotide flexibility of RNA in cells by SHAPE-MaP (SHAPE by Mutational Profiling) and DMS-MaP. In another chapter, we will discuss the characterization of RNA-protein interaction network by RNP-MaP.