Probing Nucleic Acid Interactions and Pre-mRNA Splicing by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) Microscopy

Author: Eva Šimková and David Staněk*
Affiliation:
Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic; E-Mail: eva.simkova@img.cas.cz *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: david.stanek@img.cas.cz; Tel.: +420-241-063-118; Fax: +420-224-310-955.
Conference/Journal: Int J Mol Sci.
Date published: 2012
Other: Volume ID: 13 , Issue ID: 11 , Pages: 14929-14945 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3390/ijms131114929 , Word Count: 100


Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy is a powerful technique routinely used to monitor interactions between biomolecules. Here, we focus on the techniques that are used for investigating the structure and interactions of nucleic acids (NAs). We present a brief overview of the most commonly used FRET microscopy techniques, their advantages and drawbacks. We list experimental approaches recently used for either in vitro or in vivo studies. Next, we summarize how FRET contributed to the understanding of pre-mRNA splicing and spliceosome assembly.

Keywords: FRET, FLIM, acceptor photobleaching, RNA interactions, spliceosome

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3509619/

BACK