MANIfold: Systematic characterization of nucleic acid thermodynamics via high-throughput fluorescence melt experiments

MANIfold is a novel method developed for systematic, high throughput measurements of nucleic acid secondary structure. The method includes a platform that is capable of massively parallel fluorescent measurements yielding quantitative data on the thermodynamics of the nucleic acid secondary structure. Numerous algorithms have previously been developed to predict the DNA/RNA secondary structure thermodynamics, many of which rely on nearest-neighbor models; however a major hurdle limiting such efforts has been the throughput available to methods that characterize DNA and RNA one-by-one. Now with MANIfold, it is possible to measure nucleic acid secondary-structure motif data for multiple classes of motifs (e.g. hairpin loops, mismatches, and bulges) at once. This propensity of diverse data thus allows the development of more accurate deep learning models for prediction of nucleic acid thermodynamics and folding.

Stage of Research