Bioinformatics

Probing RNA Structures and RNA/Protein Interactions

A detailed understanding of the functions and interactions of biological macromolecules requires knowledge of their molecular structures. A variety of RNA molecules have important biological functions in cells, including protein synthesis and targeting, many forms of RNA processing and splicing, RNA editing and modification, and chromosome end maintenance. To comprehensively understand the biology of a cell, a need to know the identity of all encoded RNAs, the molecules with which they interact and the molecular structures of these complexes is of vital importance. Dr. Mitrasinovic is interested in the modeling of 3D-RNA structures and RNA/protein complexes involved in the regulation of splicing and some related human pathology. The use and development of various computational methods (RNA modeling, molecular simulations, molecular docking, ligand design) are indispensable to address the issue. A close collaboration with a biochemist, dedicated to the experimental validation of the theoretical models, is quite conceivable to decipher biological functions of RNA molecules.