# RNA folding and catalysis at the interface of biophysics and genomics

> **NIH GM R35** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2026 · $425,194

## Abstract

Abstract
The overall vision of the Bevilacqua lab is that human health can be advanced by combining
holistic genomic and detailed molecular views of fundamental problems in RNA biology. Over the
next five years, the work outlined in this MIRA will advance RNA folding and catalysis under in
vivo and in vivo-like conditions using a combination of traditional and high-throughput (HT)
experimental and computational approaches, many of which the lab has helped develop. There
will be a balance of development of fundamental methods and new technologies with their
application. The molecular perspective employs both traditional biophysical and biochemical
approaches, while the holistic perspective uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches.
A major goal of this MIRA proposal is to connect these two approaches to discover novel RNA
structures and functions and to understand them from both gene regulatory and molecular
perspectives. This proposal brings multiple high-throughput (HT) approaches to bear including
experimental approaches such as fluorescence-detected binding isotherms (FDBI), massively
parallel oligonucleotide synthesis (MPOS), and Structure-seq NGS, as well as computational
approaches ranging from cheminformatics to bioinformatics. Goals for the next five years
encompass probing RNA folding under biological conditions that include deriving an expanded
set of nearest neighbor (NN) parameters for describing RNA folding in the presence of bacterial
and human metabolite mixtures. The lab will also explore the dynamics of RNA folding in such in
vivo-like conditions using time-resolved studies such as fluorescence-detected stopped-flow
kinetics, as well as temperature-dependent probing of RNA structure in vivo to uncover cases
where only a fraction of the RNA molecules form a given pairing. Additional efforts will focus on
discovery of and novel functions for ribozymes including tolerance of mutation, metabolite
assistance of cleavage, occurrence of zymogens (‘r

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11321708
- **Project number:** 5R35GM127064-08
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** PHILIP C BEVILACQUA
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** GM
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $425,194
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01T00:00:00 → 2029-04-30T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11321708

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11321708, RNA folding and catalysis at the interface of biophysics and genomics (5R35GM127064-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-20 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11321708. Licensed CC0.

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