Assigning NMR spectra of irregular RNAs by heuristic algorithms

Computer-aided analysis and preprocessing of spectral data is a prerequisite for any study of molecular structures by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The data processing stage usually involves a considerable dedication of time and expert knowledge to cope with peak picking, resonance signal assignment and calculation of structure parameters. A significant part of the latter step is performed in an automated way. However, in peak picking and resonance assignment a multistage manual assistance is still essential. The work presented here is focused on the theoretical modeling and analyzing the assignment problem by applying heuristic approaches to the NMR spectra recorded for RNA structures containing irregular regions.