User:John S. de Banzie/RNAHairpinLoop

RNA Stem and Loop Structure

spinqualitylabelsall models RNA hairpin loop from human telomerase RNA, 2qh2 Show:Asymmetric Unit Biological Assembly Drag the structure with the mouse to rotate   Export Animated Image   Print3D Intramolecular hydrogen bonding in RNA molecules results in the formation of stem and loop structures (also known as hairpin loops). RNA in the stem of a stem and loop structure forms a double stranded antiparallel right-handed helix with major and minor grooves. However this double helix is not the same as that of DNA. The most obvious difference is in the tilt of the bases, but there are also differences in the diameter and pitch of the helix. The RNA shown is 24 nucleotides long. Nucleotides 1 through 8 and 17 through 24 form the stem and nucleotides 9 through 16 form the loop. Note the complementary base pairing in the stem (A: red, C: green, G: orange, U: blue) and the unpaired bases in the loop (white). (The stem and loop structure shown is part of the RNA in human telomerase. Telomerase protects chromosomes by restoring DNA that is lost from the ends during DNA replication. The RNA is used as a template and the enzyme is thus an internally-templated RNA-dependant DNA polymerase.)

Proteopedia Page Contributors and Editors (what is this?)

John S. de Banzie