Conformational Shannon Entropy of mRNA Structures from Force Spectroscopy Measurements Predicts the Efficiency of -1 Programmed Ribosomal Frameshift Stimulation.

ABSTRACT

-1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting (-1 PRF) is stimulated by structures in messenger RNA (mRNA), but the factors determining -1 PRF efficiency are unclear. We show that -1 PRF efficiency varies directly with the conformational heterogeneity of the stimulatory structure, quantified as the Shannon entropy of the state occupancy, for a panel of stimulatory structures with efficiencies from 2% to 80%. The correlation is force dependent and vanishes at forces above those applied by the ribosome. These results support the hypothesis that heterogeneous conformational dynamics are a key factor in stimulating -1 PRF.