Wang Huiwen, Zhao Yunjie
Institute of Biophysics and Department of Physics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2020 Nov 24;18:3762-3765. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.10.043. eCollection 2020.
RNA performs various biological functions by interacting with other molecules. The knowledge of RNA binding sites is essential for the understanding of RNA-protein or RNA-ligand complex structures and their mechanisms. However, the RNA binding site prediction study requires tedious programming scripts and manual handling. One user-friendly bioinformatics tool for RNA binding site prediction has been missing. This limitation motivated us to develop the RBinds, a user-friendly web server, to predict the RNA binding site using a simple graphical user interface. Some advanced features implemented in RBinds are (1) transforming the RNA structure to a network automatically; (2) analyzing the structural network properties to predict binding site; (3) constructing one annotated force-directed network; (4) providing a visualization tool for users to scale and rotate the structure; (5) offering the related tools to predict or simulate RNA structures. RBinds web server is a reliable and user-friendly tool and facilitates the RNA binding site study without installing programs locally. RBinds is freely accessible at http://zhaoserver.com.cn/RBinds/RBinds.html.
RNA 通过与其他分子相互作用来执行各种生物学功能。RNA 结合位点的知识对于理解 RNA - 蛋白质或 RNA - 配体复合物结构及其机制至关重要。然而，RNA 结合位点预测研究需要繁琐的编程脚本和手动处理。一直缺少一个用户友好的用于 RNA 结合位点预测的生物信息学工具。这一局限性促使我们开发了 RBinds，一个用户友好的网络服务器，使用简单的图形用户界面来预测 RNA 结合位点。RBinds 实现的一些高级功能包括：（1）自动将 RNA 结构转换为网络；（2）分析结构网络属性以预测结合位点；（3）构建一个带注释的力导向网络；（4）为用户提供可视化工具以缩放和旋转结构；（5）提供预测或模拟 RNA 结构的相关工具。RBinds 网络服务器是一个可靠且用户友好的工具，无需在本地安装程序即可促进 RNA 结合位点研究。可通过 http://zhaoserver.com.cn/RBinds/RBinds.html 免费访问 RBinds。
