Designing and using RNA scaffolds to assemble proteins in vivo

RNA scaffolds are synthetic noncoding RNA molecules with engineered 3D folding harnessed to spatially organize proteins in vivo. Here we provide a protocol to design, express and characterize RNA scaffolds and their cognate proteins within 1 month. The RNA scaffold designs described here are based on either monomeric or multimeric units harboring RNA aptamers as protein docking sites. The scaffolds and proteins are cloned into inducible plasmids and expressed to form functional assemblies. RNA scaffolds find applications in many fields in which in vivo organization of biomolecules is of interest. RNA scaffolds provide extended flexibility compared with DNA or protein scaffolding strategies through programmed modulation of multiple protein stoichiometry and numbers, as well as the proteins' relative distances and spatial orientations. For synthetic biology, RNA scaffolds provide a new platform that can be used to increase yields of sequential metabolic pathways.