UC Irvine

Our understanding of the roles that non-coding, functional RNAs play in biological processes further develops each year. However, the inherent ability of RNAs to form complex three-dimensional structures that enable them to perform a variety of regulatory and catalytic processes, is what also makes them incredibly difficult to discover and characterize. Even with advancements in technology, new methodologies and techniques are required to better understand and discover their unique functionalities. The work presented within this thesis focuses on the characterization of functional RNAs in addition to the development of approaches to uncover new RNAs. First, I present a study in which a human-genomic selection is performed against the secondary-messenger cGMP and is further characterized. Then, a high-throughput selection-based approach is developed to elucidate the minimum domains necessary for RNA aptamer binding. My third focus was on developing a split-luciferase imaging platform to capture RNA dynamics in live cells and animals via bioluminescence. I also present the development of a synthetic ribozyme with the ability to aminoacylate tRNAs with non-canonical amino acids, and approaches to select for ribozymes with high turnover. Lastly, I present work on the development of an expedient single-tube collection approach for the analysis of viruses in saliva samples.