Study reveals key milestone in cellular protein production

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have discovered how genes create proteins during research that could help the development of treatments for human diseases.

Proteins are the building blocks of life and our cells make them according to our DNA instructions. These instructions must be transported from the nucleus of the cell, which contains the DNA, to the cytoplasm where the proteins are made.

The research, led by Professor Stuart Wilson of the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Sheffield, revealed how our cells know that these instructions, called mRNAs, are ready to be transported. The results will help our understanding of some cancers and conditions such as motor neuron disease, which are related to defects in protein production.

The research is published today in Molecular cell.

Professor Stuart Wilson, Senior Researcher at the University of Sheffield, explained: "If the mRNA is transported before the end of treatment, it is a disaster for the cell, which can not produce proteins and eventually dies. Behind many human diseases, it is therefore vitally important not only that the treatment be done properly, but that the cell know when it is finished. "

The team, from the Sheffield Institute for Nucleic Acids, has discovered that molecules called "export factors" – which help transport mRNA – also signal to the cell that the treatment is completed by moving their position on the mRNA.

Scientists have long discussed the position of export factors, whether they are located at the beginning of the mRNA or in the center, where the instructions for making the proteins have been merged.

Professor Wilson, in collaboration with his co-investigators, Dr. Nicolas Viphakone and Dr. Ian Sudbery, found that in fact, both points of view are correct. The export factors are initially at the beginning of the mRNA during processing, and then once they are finished, they settle further, sitting at the points where splicing has occurred place, to signal that the transport can begin.

"This research helps us understand a fundamental process that is fundamental to life, but one that will allow us to develop treatments for diseases in the future," said Professor Wilson. "We can not easily solve a problem until we know what's wrong and if we do not know how it's supposed to work."

"Export factors have changed very little throughout evolution, so those found in humans are very similar to those of simpler organisms such as yeasts and yeasts. Our research was on human cells, but we think the process we discovered will be pretty much the same in any animal on the planet. "

"Co-transcriptional loading of RNA export factors shapes the human transcriptome", by Nicolas Viphakone, Ian Sudbery, Llywelyn Griffith, Catherine G. Heath, David Sims and Stuart A. Wilson, is published in Molecular cell.

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