Mariluz Laverde MMedicine student UPB

 The scientist at the Helmhdtz Zentrum Munchen and Munich’s Technical University with colleagues from European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), have discovered how the U2AF protein enables the splicing process for the protein-coding gene be transcribed into RNA (pre-RNAm to RNAm) with the cooperation of different proteins and splicing factors.

Pre-mRNA

Spliceosome

Mature Spliceosome

Complex

Splicing

mRNA

“The spatial structure of the U2AF protein alternates between a closed and an open conformation. A matching RNA sequence in the intron causes the U2AF to assume an open conformation, which activates splicing and eventually leads to the removal of the introns."  

I think that this study is so important because it provide us a template for protein synthesis that play an important role in the

regulation of many signal pathways in the cell.

 

Sézary syndrome is characterized by the reproduction of a special type of white blood cells in the skin of male and female patients; Cancerous T-cell lymphocytes are found in the blood and affect the skin and the peripheral blood.

Eosinophilia also frequently presents in Sézary Syndrome and may contribute to the pruritus and atopy.

Patients with Sézary syndrome, manifest not only skin contamination but also contamination of blood and lymph nodes by degenerate T cells even at the onset of the disease.

Also skin all over the body is reddened, itchy, peeling, and painful. There may also be patches, plaques, or tumors on the skin.

The researchers identified several E2A-regulated genes and signal paths in tumor cells, the mere deregulation of each of which is sufficient to enable a tumor to develop. In mice a loss of this gene leads to the genesis of aggressive T cell lymphomas. However, a gene loss in one of the various human lymphoma classes had not yet been found so far.

It was directly proved for the first time that E2A in humans has the function of a tumor suppressor.

This study give us basis for development of new

treatment and more effective therapies to offer patients with cancer disease and

lymphomas. 

The U2AF protein allows it to perform properly the process of splicing, which is very important because it allows the regulation of many signaling pathways in the cell, thus decreasing the risk of serious diseases such as cáncer.

U2AF

It hopes that the findings of Sézary syndrome might in future possibly represent the basis for the development of new treatment concepts to offer patients with Sézary syndrome and other cancer diseases as human lymphomas, new and more effective therapies.

All these findings in both "New Mechanism in the Regulation of Human Genes" as in "Disappearance of Genetic Material Allows Tumor Cells to Grow" allow progress in the development of new therapies to reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases in the population

BIBLIOGRAFIA

• Helmholtz Zentrum München and Munich's Technical University (July 22, 2011). New Mechanism in the Regulation of Human Genes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved Aug 8, 2011, from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110714072410.htm

• Journal of Experimental Medicine (Aug 2, 2011). Disappearance of Genetic Material Allows Tumor Cells to Grow. ScienceDaily. Retrieved Aug 8, 2011, from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110802090830.htm

• MARTINEZ SÁNCHEZ, Lina María. Biología molecular. 6.ed. Medellín: UPB. Fac. de Medicina, 2011. 92-95 p.