Using a new paradigm which states that an ensemble of structures may coexist in a given lncRNA, I’ve contributed with major breakthroughs in the study of lncRNAs evolution, function and structure, with potential impacts on both basic and clinical studies. I’ve developed a method to predict a combination of secondary structures using RNA probing experimental data. I’ve performed experiments at different temperatures to analyze the stability of RNA secondary structures depending on thermodynamical characteristics. Furthermore, I’ve designed nextPARS experiments in synthetic RNAs introducing mutations that force some constraints on secondary structure conformation. Moreover, I’ve studied in detail the structural profiles from lncRNAs in nematodes to determine structural regions and shared structural motifs. In addition, I’ve observed that NORAD lncRNA regions of repeats units are less variable at different temperatures than other areas of the same lncRNA. Finally, I’ve shown that using the possible structures that may coexist within a given lncRNA is better than using only the most stable one, to study the evolution of lncRNAs.
Furthermore, I’ve presented my research project by participating in national and international conferences such as Keystone Symposia on Noncoding RNA (Whistler, Canada), 25th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, XIV Symposium on Bioinformatics (Granada, Spain) and EMBO RNA: Structure meets function (Stockholm, Sweden). Moreover, I’ve published part of the results for this project in the journals NAR, RNA Biology and a book chapter in Springer Nature and I hope to publish other results soon. Furthermore, I’ve participate in outreach activities and communication activities, like CNN radio, TN international tv show, Border periodismo blog, PRBB Open Day and with several posts on twitter.
