Award
NIH Reporter #1R16GM165524-01
Comprehensive Quantification of RNA Base Stacking and Its Determinants
Recipient
SUNY College at New Paltz, NY, United States
Award Amount
$191,000.00
Ceiling
$191,000.00
Awarded
August 07, 2026
Identifier
1R16GM165524-01
The award funds a project to quantify RNA base-stacking interactions under physiological conditions to improve RNA structure prediction and design of RNA-based nanostructures, using high-throughput single-molecule assays.
Description
This project aims to systematically quantify RNA base-stacking energies across all 16 RNA base-stacks and determine how stacking is modulated by temperature, ionic composition, and crowding. It will also evaluate the functional consequences of stacking in RNA ligation and strand displacement reactions using a high-throughput single-molecule force-clamp assay. The research will provide experimentally validated parameters for force-field refinement, enhance predictive modeling of RNA folding, and link stacking energetics to RNA-mediated processes, with implications for therapeutics and human health.