Tag Archives: mrna

The lessons of COVID-19, two years on

UCLA epidemiologist Robert Kim-Farley reflects on how the U.S. has coped with the pandemic

When Robert Kim-Farley heard that COVID-19 had reached the United States, on Jan. 20, 2020, he immediately recalled the grim images from China that he had been seeing online, with people dying in the streets outside of overwhelmed hospitals. (more…)

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Wie Krebszellen gegen ihr Ableben kämpfen

Freiburger Forscher entschlüsseln Mechanismen, mit denen Tumore bei Stress ihr eigenes Wachstum fördern

Ein Enzym, das Tumorwachstum fördert, sammelt sich in gestressten Krebszellen verstärkt an. Das hat die Gruppe des Freiburger Molekularmediziners Prof. Dr. Thomas Reinheckel zusammen mit der Freiburger Biochemikerin Prof. Dr. Sabine Rospert sowie mit Prof. Dr. Elmar Stickeler und Dr. Peter Bronsert vom Universitätsklinikum Freiburg herausgefunden. Das Team hat die Forschungsergebnisse in der Fachzeitschrift „Journal of Biological Chemistry“ veröffentlicht.

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Kleines Molekül mit hohem Lichtschutzfaktor

Ein Freiburger Forschungsteam hat gezeigt, wie Cyanobakterien sich an Schwankungen in der Lichtintensität anpassen

Cyanobakterien sind Organismen, die Fotosynthese betreiben und ihre Energie mithilfe von Licht gewinnen. Dabei produzieren sie Sauerstoff. Zu viel Sonnenstrahlung kann die empfindlichen Fotosynthesesysteme in den Zellen zerstören. Forscherinnen und Forscher wussten bislang wenig über die molekularen Mechanismen, die dafür ausschlaggebend sind, wie Cyanobakterien auf Schwankungen in der Lichtintensität reagieren. Sie nahmen an, dass vor allem Signalsysteme, die aus Proteinen bestehen, solche komplexen Regulationsprozesse steuern. Die Arbeitsgruppen um Prof. Dr. Annegret Wilde und Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hess vom Institut für Biologie III der Universität Freiburg haben gezeigt, dass die Natur dieses Problem mithilfe des spezialisierten RNA-Moleküls PsrR1 löst. Es besteht aus nur 131 Nukleotiden und ist somit fünf- bis zehnmal kleiner als durchschnittliche mRNA-Moleküle. PsrR1 übernimmt eine zentrale Funktion beim Umbau des Fotosyntheseapparates, wenn zu viel Licht auf die Zellen auftrifft. Die Forschungsergebnisse wurden in der Fachzeitschrift „The Plant Cell“ veröffentlicht. (more…)

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Discovery spotlights key role of mystery RNA modification in cells

Researchers had known for several decades that a certain chemical modification exists on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), which is essential to the flow of genetic information. But only recently did experiments at the University of Chicago show that one major function of this modification governs the longevity and decay of RNA, a process critical to the development of healthy cells.

The chemical modification on mRNA in question is called N6-methyladenosine (m6A). A recent study by UChicago scientists reveals how the m6A modification on mRNA could affect the half-life of mRNA that in turn regulates cellular protein quantities. That discovery could provide fundamental insights into healthy functioning and disorders such as obesity, diabetes and infertility. (more…)

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Deep Biosphere Harbors Active, Growing Communities of Microorganisms

The deep biosphere—the realm of sediments far below the seafloor—harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Delaware (UD).

“This is the first molecular evidence for active cell division in the deep biosphere,” says WHOI postdoctoral investigator Bill Orsi, who was the lead author on the study. Previous studies and models had suggested cells were alive, but whether the cells were actually dividing or not had remained elusive. (more…)

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Life underground

Active microbes discovered far beneath seafloor in ancient ocean sediment

Microbes are living more than 500 feet beneath the seafloor in 5 million-year-old sediment, according to new findings by researchers at the University of Delaware and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Genetic material in mud from the bottom of the ocean — called the deep biosphere —revealed an ecosystem of active bacteria, fungi and other microscopic organisms at depths deeper than a skyscraper is high. The findings were published in Nature on June 12. (more…)

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The Compound in the Mediterranean Diet that Makes Cancer Cells ‘Mortal’

Scientists Design ‘Fishing’ Technique to Show How Foods Improve Health

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells’ “superpower” to escape death.

By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer cells into normal cells that die as scheduled.

One way that cancer cells thrive is by inhibiting a process that would cause them to die on a regular cycle that is subject to strict programming. This study in cells, led by researchers at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that a compound in certain plant-based foods, called apigenin, could stop breast cancer cells from inhibiting their own death. (more…)

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Beacons Light up Stem Cell Transformation

In a new study, Brown University researchers demonstrate a new tool for visually tracking in real-time the transformation of a living population of stem cells into cells of a specific tissue. The “molecular beacons,” which could advance tissue engineering research, light up when certain genes are expressed and don’t interfere with the development or operation of the stem cells.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A novel set of custom-designed “molecular beacons” allows scientists to monitor gene expression in living populations of stem cells as they turn into a specific tissue in real-time. The technology, which Brown University researchers describe in a new study, provides tissue engineers with a potentially powerful tool to discover what it may take to make stem cells transform into desired tissue cells more often and more quickly. That’s a key goal in improving regenerative medicine treatments. (more…)

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