Identified easily avoidable cause of cancer
Scientists at the University of Case Western reserve in the USA found an unusually long strands of RNA that contribute to the uncontrolled multiplication of cancer cells. These molecules, containing typically about 20 nucleotides, carry no information about the amino acid sequence of proteins.
Scientists at the University of Case Western reserve in the USA found an unusually long strands of RNA that contribute to the uncontrolled multiplication of cancer cells. About it reported in a press release on EurekAlert!.
These molecules, containing, typically, about 200 nucleotides, carry no information about the amino acid sequence of proteins and are called long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). It is known that lncRNA are involved in the regulation of processes such as transcription, translation, cell differentiation, gene expression and cell proliferation.
Biologists have compared the expression profiles of the genes encoding RNA long in healthy cells of the colon and malignant. It turned out that in the tumor tissues more than 200 lncRNA is contained in amounts that differ from the norm. So, there were excess molecules lincDUSP in 91% of all studied samples of the cancerous tissue.
Scientists conducted genetic modification of malignant cells, blocking the synthesis lincDUSP. The cells began to proliferate at normal speeds. This is because in tumor tissues impaired mechanisms of cell death, however, the low level of lncRNA contributes to their restoration. The cells begin to undergo apoptosis, as only damaged their DNA. According to researchers, this effect can be a small molecule, inhibitory RNA long.