Structure of a dopamine-binding RNA aptamer reveals metal-mediated ligand recognition.

Crystal structures of two dopamine-binding RNA aptamer variants show a potassium-anchored binding pocket that recognizes dopamine via catechol stacking and hydrogen bonding.

• Why it matters: Aptamer ligand binding often fails across different environments, and scaffolded selection aims to preserve RNA architecture while evolving reliable small-molecule recognition.
• What they did: The authors solved apo and dopamine-bound crystal structures of two representative variants derived from a purine riboswitch aptamer, then used structure probing to assess conformational changes.
• The result: Scaffolded selection enforces global fold conservation with local remodeling at a three-way junction, and probing indicates minimal conformational changes upon ligand binding, supporting robust, preorganized sensing design.

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