A new method for studying ribosome function

UIC scientists use native chemical ligation to fuse peptides to tRNAs

03-Nov-2022 - Inside tiny cellular machines called ribosomes, chains of genetic material called messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are matched with the corresponding transfer RNAs (tRNAs) to create sequences of amino acids that exit the ribosome as proteins. Unfinished proteins are called nascent chainsm and they are left ...

Nanotechnology enables visualization of RNA structures at near-atomic resolution

Combination of nucleic acid nanotechnology and cryo-EM gives unprecedented insights into the structures of large and small RNAs

04-May-2022 - We live in a world made and run by RNA, the equally important sibling of the genetic molecule DNA. In fact, evolutionary biologists hypothesize that RNA existed and self-replicated even before the appearance of DNA and the proteins encoded by it. Fast forward to modern day humans: science has ...

Rear-end Collision on the “Ribosome Highway”

Researchers identify bacterial protein that senses and rescues “stalled” ribosomes

14-Mar-2022 - As a molecular machine found in the cells of all organisms, the ribosome is responsible for making new proteins. It reads the blueprint for a certain protein on a messenger molecule – known as messenger RNA (mRNA) – and then converts this information into new proteins. For a number of reasons, ...

MicroRNA comprehensively analyzed

18-Nov-2019 - Messenger RNA transmits genetic information to the proteins, and microRNA plays a key role in the regulation of gene expression. Scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Research Centre for Medical Genetics have described the complex interactions between these two ...

New Ways to Look at Protein-RNA Networks

10-Dec-2018 - For their vital tasks, all RNA molecules in our cells require proteins as binding partners. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) and colleagues from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have developed the first method with which they ...

Genetic variants reveal new targets for chronic kidney disease treatment

How specific cell types can lead to development of disease

04-Oct-2018 - The kidney does more than double or even triple duty compared to other organs - it extracts waste, balances body fluids, forms urine, regulates blood pressure, and secretes hormones. Given this complexity, when things go wrong, havoc can ensue, causing a suite of symptoms called chronic kidney ...

Closing in on mystery surrounding dangerous blood syndromes

Genetically driven MDS enabled by gene linked to metabolism and oxygen in cells

24-Aug-2018 - Scientists may be on the road to solving the mystery of a group of mostly incurable blood diseases called myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which cause people to have immature, malfunctioning bone marrow cells that fuel a diverse set of health problems and can lead to leukemia. MDS is linked to a ...

New gene expression mechanism with possible role in human disease

25-Jun-2018 - When cells grow and divide to ensure a biological function - such as a properly working organ - DNA must be unwound from its typical tightly packed form and copied into RNA to create proteins. When this process goes awry - if too little or too much RNA is produced - then the result could be ...

Tracing cerebral cortex evolution, cell by cell

Molecular atlases of turtle and lizard brains shed light on the evolution of our own brain

07-May-2018 - Our cerebral cortex, a sheet of neurons, connections and circuits, comprises “ancient” regions such as the hippocampus and “new” areas such as the six-layered “neocortex”, found only in mammals and most prominently in humans. But when in evolution did the components of cerebral cortex arise and ...

Non-coding RNA reveals its secrets

16-Apr-2018 - Scientists from the Schuman Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research have investigated the variety of structures and functions in non-coding parts of messenger RNA (mRNA) from brain cells. These untranslated regions (UTRs) are essential for regulating the stability and localization of ...