RNA secondary structure factorization in prime tangles

Abstract

Abstract Background Due to its key role in various biological processes, RNA secondary structures have always been the focus of in-depth analyses, with great efforts from mathematicians and biologists, to find a suitable abstract representation for modelling its functional and structural properties. One contribution is due to Kauffman and Magarshak, who modelled RNA secondary structures as mathematical objects constructed in link theory: tangles of the Brauer Monoid. In this paper, we extend the tangle-based model with its minimal prime factorization, useful to analyze patterns that characterize the RNA secondary structure. Results By leveraging the mapping between RNA and tangles, we prove that the prime factorizations of tangle-based models share some patterns with RNA folding’s features. We analyze the E. coli tRNA and provide some visual examples of interesting patterns. Conclusions We formulate an open question on the nature of the class of equivalent factorizations and discuss some research directions in this regard. We also propose some practical applications of the tangle-based method to RNA classification and folding prediction as a useful tool for learning algorithms, even though the full factorization is not known.