BPS2026 – Computational modeling of RNA-protein binding interactions under an external force

RNA binding proteins play a crucial role in post-transcriptional gene regulation by controlling the transport, processing, and translation of their target RNAs. Post-transcriptional gene regulation leads to the differential expression of genetic material, and loss of regulation or overregulation relates to a large range of cancers and diseases—many of which have directly been associated with RNA binding proteins and their target RNAs. To understand RNA, RNA binding proteins, and how they function in gene expression, it is essential to characterize how RNA binding proteins interact with their target RNAs. Here, we aim to assess the potential for single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments to be used in the characterization of RNA-protein binding by investigating to what extent a change of extension due to RNA-protein binding is experimentally measurable and what aspects of the interaction can be deduced from such measurements. We predict the effect of protein binding on RNA force-extension measurements via the open-source ViennaRNA package, which we have modified to simultaneously consider an external force, protein binding, and RNA secondary structure. From this work, we find clear signatures of protein binding in predicted force-extension curves around biologically relevant protein concentrations as well as a connection between observable force-extension curves and protein binding domain geometry for several RNA binding proteins.