Seeing DROSHA for the first time: Lab team gets the first glimpse of elusive protein structure

Thursday, December 31, 2015 - 12:30 in Biology & Nature

Our bodies are made up of many different types of cells, with each of their identities determined by different gene expression. Cancer and genetic diseases occur when this gene expression goes wrong. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an important regulator in gene expression, and they play crucial roles in almost all biological contexts including development, differentiation, inflammation, aging, and cancer. In the nucleus, miRNA start their process as a tiny, folded over hairpin structure called primary microRNA (pri-miRNA) and is recognized and processed by the Microprocessor complex, an enzyme arrangement made up of one DROSHA and two DGCR8 proteins. The Microprocessor complex does two things: it measures the pri-miRNA then snips off its basal parts, resulting in precursor-microRNA (pre-miRNA). After some further processing, mature miRNA and RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC) interact with messenger RNA (mRNA) in the cytoplasm to repress translation which stops the ribosome from making protein.

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