Discovery of a basic organic mechanism opens path for novel therapies

The lab of Yongchao C. Ma, PhD, at Stanley Manne Kids’s Analysis Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Kids’s Hospital of Chicago found a basic organic mechanism that might result in new remedies for neurological ailments, reminiscent of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and autism, in addition to totally different cancers. The examine was printed within the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

Dr. Ma’s group discovered that chemical modification of RNA (referred to as RNA methylation) regulates mitochondrial operate. Mitochondria is greatest recognized for producing power within the cell. Nonetheless, Dr. Ma explains, mitochondria does way more. It additionally acts as a signaling middle that regulates broad organic processes inside the cell. Dr. Ma’s lab beforehand linked mitochondrial dysfunction to the event of SMA and autism, whereas different labs have implicated it in most cancers pathogenesis.

Our discovering establishes a essential hyperlink between RNA methylation, mitochondria and ailments that relate to mitochondrial dysfunction, which signifies that now we now have potential for brand spanking new remedies for a lot of totally different problems.”

Dr. Yongchao C. Ma, Ph.D., senior writer on the examine

He holds the Kids’s Analysis Fund Endowed Professorship in Neurobiology at Lurie Kids’s and is Affiliate Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Neuroscience at Northwestern College Feinberg College of Medication.

Dr. Ma’s lab discovered that RNA methylation regulates mitochondrial operate by controlling manufacturing of key enzymes which are parts of mitochondria. They demonstrated in a neural stem cell mannequin and a mouse mannequin that lack of RNA methylation considerably modified mitochondrial operate in stem cells and neurons.

“We’re very enthusiastic about this discovery and the promise of modern remedies, which may contain growing modifiers of RNA methylation to rectify the mitochondrial defect,” mentioned Dr. Ma. “We’re additionally honored to contribute considerably to the examine of RNA methylation. There may be exponential progress on this area, and we hope that our ongoing analysis on RNA methylation within the nervous system will convey new insights on mind growth and neurological problems.”