RNA Folding Pathways and Structural Motifs Revealed through Mechanistic and Spectroscopic Investigations of Group II Intron Ribozymes.

In contrast to the state of knowledge about protein folding, little is known about the pathways, the driving forces, or even the molecular interactions that stabilize RNA tertiary folding. Knowledge of the tertiary structure of RNA is critical for deconvoluting mechanisms of RNA catalysis, and understanding RNA recognition by other biochemical constituents