​​​​​​​Research sheds light on mysterious messenger RNA modifications

The purpose of a distinctive set of modifications found at the beginning of messenger RNA has remained a fundamental mystery in the field of biology.

MessengerRNAs are important for the production of proteins. The cap at the beginning of the chain has two main functions. It protects the messenger from breaking down, but it also plays a role in the way the messenger produces the proteins.

The cap structure is one of the things that can carry small decorations called methylation. These occur in animals and some of their parasites, but their purpose has remained unclear.

Although scientists have known about the modification for more than 45 years, they don't know how it affects the function of the messenger RNA. Scientists have not been able to show what happens when this is knocked out or removed from animal model organisms.

A new study published in Nature Communications shows that fruit flies can be used to create a knockout model. They were able to show what happens when the flies don't have the two enzymes used in the process.

The modified flies played an important role in the reward learning process. The flies showed a defect in their ability to learn.

The study shows that there are important functions in the brain. Even though these flies are alive, they are not very capable of learning survival skills.

The research builds on work done by Professor Fray, who found that cap modifications are highly dynamic in mice.

The team discovered that the modifications played a role in transporting the mRNAs.

Professor Scott Waddell from the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at Oxford University said, "This learning phenotype opens many new questions." Although we don't know the underlying nature of the underlying neuronal function, it is similar to the genetic disease associated with the mental retardation known as Fragile X Mental Retardation, which also involvesRNA biology and is known to produce defects in the development of the brain.

Analyzing the cap modifications is very challenging and further technical hurdles need to be taken to look at modifications in specific genes.

This is relevant to the case of the SARS and other viruses that have their own cap methylation enzyme, but it is not understood what role this plays in virus-host interactions, according to Dr. Nathan Archer from the University ofNottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences.

The next step for the team will be to investigate the mechanism by which the modified mRNA is able to influence the expression of genes relevant to reward learning and virus propagation.

More information: Irmgard U. Haussmann et al, CMTr cap-adjacent 2′-O-ribose mRNA methyltransferases are required for reward learning and mRNA localization to synapses, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28549-5 Journal information: Nature Communications Citation: ​​​​​​​Research sheds light on mysterious messenger RNA modifications (2022, March 9) retrieved 9 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-mysterious-messenger-rna-modifications.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.