Poster Presentation Australasian RNA Biology and Biotechnology Association 2026 Conference

Understanding the molecular grammar of RNA interactions (#153)

Pall Thordarson 1 , Lachlan B Cox 1 , Felix J Rizzuto 1 , John S Mattick 2 , Isis A Middleton 1 , Anika L Moller 1
  1. School of Chemistry and the UNSW RNA Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. School of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences and the UNSW RNA Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) governs living processes at every level, yet the rules determining how RNA interacts with other molecules remain poorly understood. Over 98% of the human genome is transcribed into non-coding RNAs,1 whose function remains largely unknown (the so-called "dark genome"),2 despite their crucial roles in developmental biology, neurological disorders and brain development.3

But this challenge extends beyond non-coding RNA: even for well-understood coding RNA, we lack a predictive understanding of RNA’s molecular grammar4 – the chemical rules governing how RNA selectively recognises and binds its partners. Current approaches focus predominantly on RNA function and structure, leaving these underlying binding interactions largely uncharacterised. Supramolecular chemistry, the science of molecular interactions and binding selectivity, provides the natural and underexploited framework for addressing this gap.

Through the methodological framework of supramolecular chemistry, we aim to uncover the molecular grammar of RNA interactions – how RNA interacts with other molecules. Here, we will report on our latest studies RNA-peptide condensates4 (droplets), how non-canonical RNA structures such a G-quadruplexes5 and i-motifs6 can be folded by “chaperoning” peptide molecule.

 

References:

1. J di Iulio et al., Nature Gen., 2018, 50, 333.

2. M Blaxter, Science, 2010, 330, 1758.

3. J. S. Mattick et al., Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol., 2023, 24, 430.

4. A. L. Moller, I. A. Middleton, G. E. Maynard, L. B. Cox, A. Wang, H. L. Li, P. Thordarson, Biomacromolecules, 2025, 26, 470.

5. L. B. Cox, J. S. Mattick, I. A. Middleton, F. J. Rizzuto, P. Thordarson, Nucleic Acids Res., 2026, 54, gkaf1471.

6. B. Cox, P. Thordarson, F. J. Rizzuto, Chem. Sci., 2026, 17, 9188.