A Structural Classification of RNA

描述(由申请人提供)：对RNA结构和功能的全面检查可以产生从对单个分子的分析中不可能得出的见解。为了帮助理解庞大且快速增长的RNA结构数据语料库，我们建议创建RNA的结构分类(SCAR)。这个数据库将在四个复杂程度上组织特征：三维基序、三级相互作用、结构域和整个分子。它们中的每一个都可以有多种组织方式；例如，既可以通过环路大小，也可以通过基本堆叠。为了初步定义显著的重复特征，分类将从对所有RNA结构的人工检查开始。随着项目的进展，观察到的特征将被形式化成算法，这些算法将被应用于对RNA结构进行快速、可重复和准确的分析和分类。 结构特征将被映射到功能分类中，两者之间的联系将被用来研究RNA结构的各个方面与其功能之间的一般关系。为了探索RNA结构的进化基础和结构对序列的依赖，已知结构的分类RNA与其进化相关家族之间将建立详细的联系。 这一分类将立即阐明RNA结构特征的普遍性和变异性。此外，它还有望在RNA分子建模、分子设计和工程、RNA配体和药物设计等方面得到应用。它将极大地加深我们对RNA结构-功能关系、RNA结构与物理和生物学特性的相关性以及对RNA结构的进化影响的理解。该数据库还将为专家和新手提供一种方便和合乎逻辑的手段，以获取和解释日益丰富的RNA序列和结构数据。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Comprehensive examination of RNA structure and function can yield insights Impossible to giean from analysis of individual molecules. To aid understanding of the large and rapidly growing corpus of RNA structural data, we propose to create a structural classification of RNA (scaR). This database will organize features at four levels of complexity: three-dimensional motifs, tertiary interactions, structural domains, and whole molecules. Each of these may have multiple means of organization; for example, both by loop size and by base stacking. To initially define significant recurrent features, the classification will begin with manual inspection of all RNA structures. As the project progresses, observed characteristics will be formalized into algorithms that will be applied to perform rapid, reproducible, and accurate analysis and classification of RNA structures. The structural features will be mapped into a functional classification, and the associations between the two will be used to study general relationships between aspects of RNA structure and their function. To explore the evolutionary basis of RNA structure and the dependence of structure upon sequence, detailed links will be forged between classified RNAs of known structure and their evolutionarily related families. This classification will immediately elucidate the prevalence and variability of features in RNA structure. In addition, it is expected to have applications in RNA molecular modeling, molecular design and engineering, and RNA ligand and drug design. It will greatly enhance our understanding of RNA structure-function relations, the correlation between RNA structure and physical and biological properties, and evolutionary effects on RNA structure. The database will also provide a convenient and logical means for experts and neophytes alike to access and interpret the growing wealth of RNA sequence and structural data.