Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34283611›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Chemical Society2021

To Knot or Not to Knot: Multiple Conformations of the SARS-CoV-2 Frameshifting RNA Element.

Tamar Schlick, Qiyao Zhu, Abhishek Dey, Swati Jain, Shuting Yan, Alain Laederach

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
56citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

56 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Viral RNAs as Dual Graphs: Extending the Motif Universe of RNAs.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Heterogeneous and multiple conformational transition pathways between pseudoknots of the SARS-CoV-2 frameshift element.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tamar SchlickDepartment of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, Silver Building, New York, New York 10003, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-2392-2062
Qiyao ZhuCourant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, 251 Mercer Street, New York, New York 10012, United States.
Abhishek DeyDepartment of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.
Swati JainDepartment of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, Silver Building, New York, New York 10003, United States.
Shuting YanDepartment of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, Silver Building, New York, New York 10003, United States.
Alain LaederachDepartment of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-5088-9907

Funding

Non-coding RNA structure change in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary DiseaseR01HL111527 · NHLBI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Alain T Laederach, Kevin M Weeks · 2012 to 2026
$6.6M
Bridging Disparate Structural/Functional Scales: Multiscale Modeling of the Chromatin Fiber and RNA Tertiary StructuresR35GM122562 · NIGMS · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · PI Tamar Schlick · 2017 to 2026
$4.6M
Structural and functional consequences of disease SNPs on the transcriptomeR01GM101237 · NIGMS · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI LAEDERACH, ALAIN T · 2012 to 2020
$2.5M
Variant induced RNA structure change in human genetic diseaseR35GM140844 · NIGMS · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI LAEDERACH, ALAIN T · 2021 to 2025
$2.1M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL111527NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM101237NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM122562NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM140844
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting RNA element (FSE) is an excellent target for therapeutic intervention against Covid-19. This small gene element employs a shifting mechanism to pause and backtrack the ribosome during translation between Open Reading Frames 1a and 1b, which code for viral polyproteins. Any interference with this process has a profound effect on viral replication and propagation. Pinpointing the structures adapted by the FSE and associated structural transformations involved in frameshifting has been a challenge. Using our graph-theory-based modeling tools for representing RNA secondary structures, "RAG" (RNA-As-Graphs), and chemical structure probing experiments, we show that the 3-stem H-type pseudoknot (3_6 dual graph), long assumed to be the dominant structure, has a viable alternative, an HL-type 3-stem pseudoknot (3_3) for longer constructs. In addition, an unknotted 3-way junction RNA (3_5) emerges as a minor conformation. These three conformations share Stems 1 and 3, while the different Stem 2 may be involved in a conformational switch and possibly associations with the ribosome during translation. For full-length genomes, a stem-loop motif (2_2) may compete with these forms. These structural and mechanistic insights advance our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting process and concomitant virus life cycle, and point to three avenues of therapeutic intervention.

Indexed as

Base SequenceInverted Repeat SequencesModels, MolecularNucleic Acid ConformationRNA, ViralSARS-CoV-2RNA, Viral

Identifiers

PMID34283611
PMCPMC8315264

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.