This thesis explores the RNA folding problem using single-molecule field effect transistors (smFETs) to measure the lifetimes of individual RNA base-pairing rearrangements. In the course of this research, considerable computational, chemical, and engineering contributions were developed so that the single-molecule measurements could be conducted and quantified. These advancements have allowed, on the basis of the smFET data collected herein, the quantification of a kinetic model for RNA stem-loop structures which has been generalized to quantitatively explore the phenomenological observation that an RNA found in the bacillus subtilis strain acts as a metabolite-sensing switch, allowing RNA polymerase to transcribe the messenger RNA when the metabolite is present and preventing transcription when the metabolite is absent. Together, the data presented quantify a simple model for the base pairing rearrangements that underlie RNA folding.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/D8BC49ZQ |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Hon, Jason J. |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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