Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 14: Poster Session II
BP 14.54: Poster
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 18:00–21:00, P2
FRET-guided selection of RNA 3D structures — •Mirko Weber1, Felix Erichson1, Maciej Antczak2,3, Vanessa Schumann1, Josephine Meitzner1, Tomasz Zok3, Fabio D. Steffen4, Marta Szachniuk2,3, and Richard Börner1 — 1Laserinstitut Hochschule Mittweida, University of Applied Sciences Mittweida, Mittweida, Germany — 2Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland — 3Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland — 4Department of Oncology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Integrative RNA modeling requires structurally validated ensembles and experimental data that reflect binding and folding behavior. However, predicting such structure collections remains challenging due to rugged energy landscapes and extensive conformational heterogeneity. We address these limitations with a FRET-guided selection strategy that identifies RNA conformational states consistent with single-molecule FRET (smFRET) data. We predicted 3D structures of a ribosomal RNA tertiary contact containing a GAAA tetraloop and a kissing loop using RNAComposer, FARFAR2, and AlphaFold3, and validated them based on Watson-Crick base pairing and an eRMSD threshold. For all retained models, we computed accessible contact volumes of the sCy3/sCy5 dye pair using FRETraj and derived FRET distributions, which were weighted against experimental smFRET data. Our results demonstrate that in silico predicted structures can reproduce the experimental transfer efficiencies, and that our selection reliably identifies RNA conformations consistent with the smFRET data.
Keywords: RNA; integrative modeling; smFRET; RNA structure prediction; dye models