Well characterized dsRNA substrates contain G–C pairs at a helical shift suitable for Stau binding. Well characterized dsRNA substrates contain G–C pairs at a helical shift suitable for Stau binding. Schematic of the secondary structures of an artificial RNA binder (left) and of two stem-loops in the 3ʹUTR of bcd mRNA. Watson–Crick base pairs are labeled with a hyphen in different colors with C–G in red and U–A in gray, whereas wobble pairs with a yellow dot. Below each RNA, the Kd of binding of hStau1 FL is indicated (related to Figs 5–7). Daniela Lazzaretti et al. LSA 2018;1:e201800187 © 2018 Crown copyright. The government of Australia, Canada, or the UK ("the Crown") owns the copyright interests of authors who are government employees. The Crown Copyright is not transferable.