Relating Structure and Dynamics in RNA Biology

Recent advances in structural biology methods have enabled a surge in the number of RNA and RNA-protein assembly structures available at atomic or near-atomic resolution. These complexes are often trapped in discrete conformational states that exist along a mechanistic pathway. Single-molecule fluorescence methods provide temporal resolution to elucidate the dynamic mechanisms of processes involving complex RNA and RNA-protein assemblies, but interpretation of such data often requires previous structural knowledge. Here we highlight how single-molecule tools can directly complement structural approaches for two processes-translation and reverse transcription-to provide a dynamic view of molecular function. Outline 1 Introduction 2 Structural dynamics of the ribosome during decoding 3 Modulation of translation decoding dynamics by m 6 A mRNA modifications 4 Modulation of translation decoding dynamics by 2 -O-methylation 5 Next steps in studying the role of mRNA modification in translation decoding 6 Structural dynamics of HIV-1 reverse transcription initiation 7 HIV-1 viral RNA-tRNA Lys 3 complex structure and heterogeneity 8 Interactions of HIV-1 RT with the primer-template complex 9 Insights into the tertiary structure of the HIV-1 RT initiation complex 10 Next steps in studying HIV-1 reverse transcription initiation 11 Concluding remarks