Structure and Conformational Dynamics of the Domain 5 RNA Hairpin of a Bacterial Group II Intron Revealed by Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) data obtained for a 35-nucleotide RNA segment of a bacterial group II intron indicate a helical hairpin structure in which three parts, a terminal pentaloop, a bulge, and a G-A mismatch, display no Watson–Crick base pairing. The 668 NOE upper distance bounds for atom pairs are insufficient to uniquely determine the conformation of these segments. Therefore, molecular dynamics simulations including time-averaged distance restraints have been used to obtain a conformational ensemble compatible with the observed NMR data. The ensemble shows alternating hydrogen bonding patterns for the mentioned segments. In particular, in the pentaloop and in the bulge, the hydrogen bonding networks correspond to distinct conformational clusters that could not be captured by using conventional single-structure refinement techniques. This implies that, to obtain a realistic picture of the conformational ensemble of such flexible biomolecules, it is necessary to properly account for the conformational variability in the structure refinement of RNA fragments