Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 06 Aug 2013 – 1:00 PDT
“This discovery, involving what was previously referred to as “junk”, opens up a new level of gene expression control that could also play a role in the development of many other tissue types,” Rasko says. “Our observations were quite surprising and they open entirely new avenues for potential treatments in diverse diseases including cancers and leukaemias.”
MLA
Centenary Institute
So the researchers propose intron retention as an efficient means of controlling the activity of many genes. “In fact, it takes less energy to break up strips of mRNA, than to control gene activity in other ways,” says Rasko. “This may well be a previously-overlooked general mechanism for gene regulation with implications for disease causation and possible therapies in the future.”
But these mRNA strips need to be processed before they can be used as protein blueprints. Typically, any non-coding introns must be cut out to produce the final sequence for a functional protein. Many of the introns also include a short sequence – known as the stop codon – which, if left in, stops protein construction altogether. Retention of the intron can also stimulate a cellular mechanism which breaks up the mRNA containing it.
Dr Ritchie was able to develop a computer program to sort out mRNA strips retaining introns from those which did not. Using this technique the lead molecular biologist of the team, Dr Justin Wong, found that mRNA strips from many dozens of genes involved in white blood cell function were prone to intron retention and consequent break down. This was related to the levels of the enzymes needed to chop out the intron. Unless the intron is excised, functional protein products are never produced from these genes. Dr Jeff Holst in the team went a step further to show how this mechanism works in living bone marrow.
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‘Junk DNA’ and cell development
Institute, Centenary. “‘Junk DNA’ and cell development.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 6 Aug. 2013. Web.
6 Aug. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/264380.php>
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