Stem-loop

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Stem-loops are nucleic acid secondary structural elements which form via intramolecular base pairing in single-stranded DNA or RNA. They are also referred to as hairpins or hairpin loops. A stem-loop occurs when two regions of the same nucleic acid strand, usually complementary in nucleotide sequence, base-pair to form a double helix that ends in a loop of unpaired nucleotides.

Stem-loops are most commonly found in RNA, and are a key building block of many RNA secondary structures. Stem-loops can direct RNA folding, protect structural stability for messenger RNA (mRNA), provide recognition sites for RNA binding proteins, and serve as a substrate for enzymatic reactions.^[1]