2-Methylnicotinic acid imidazolide

2-Methylnicotinic acid imidazolide, a RNA-SHAPE electrophile, is a general cell-permeable probe of RNA structure. 2-Methylnicotinic acid imidazolide can probe RNA structure in vivo and in live cells with high accuracy and single-nucleotide resolution^[1]. In Vitro: Application of 100 mM 2-Methylnicotinic acid imidazolide (NAI) to murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs) resulted in 5S rRNA modification in as little as one minute with suitable signal-to-noise ratio. This signal begins to plateau by 15 minutes. 2-Methylnicotinic acid imidazolide also modifies 5S rRNA in cultured human cancer cells, Drosophila S2 cells, yeast, and E. coli. 2-Methylnicotinic acid imidazolide can read out alterations in the RNA tertiary structure as a result of sampling critical mature ribosome conformations.