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Come explore the fascinating world of cellular RNA Molecules with Mount Holyoke College Biochemistry 330 students.

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The RNase (P) for everyone

Ribonuclease P, or RNase P for short, is a catalytic RNA found in nearly every organism on earth (Fig 1). Discovered in 1978 by Stark, Kole, Bowman, and Altman, RNase P was the second type of ribozyme, an RNA that does the work of a protein, discovered, and the first to act exclusively on sequences not part of the same molecule as itself (1). While it was initially thought that both the RNA (called P RNA) and associated protein were necessary, further studies showed that the RNA alone has catalytic activity, making huge waves in the enzyme world (2). Figure 1 . RNAase P RNA structure across all domains of life and hypothesized "RNA world" with associated proteins. Adapted from Walker et al. 2008 P RNA folds into multiple helices and loops (Fig 2A) that connect with each other through base pairing (A-U and C-G) like in DNA and base stacking where the rings in each base stack and stick on top of each other to form a very stable structure (Fig 2B). Across all domains of ...
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IRES: The Trojan horse of Hepatitis C

Ana was 22 years old when she found out she had it… Hepatitis C! Unlike others her age, she hadn’t yet had a boyfriend, gotten tattoos in non sterile conditions, damaged her liver by excessive drinking in college, or shared needles to inject drugs, all of which are ways one can get the disease (1). All she had done was receive a kidney (a solid organ) from her uncle who was born in 1962 in Japan, one of the few industrialized countries with high Hepatitis C rates (2). She first noticed the massive bruises on her arms and legs 6 months ago followed by the yellowing of her eyes (jaundice). Her doctor thought it was her body rejecting the kidney and causing her to have reduced platelets but after getting a biopsy, it turned out her liver had become cirrhotic and was failing. Cirrhosis is a chronic disease that leads to inflammation which, over time, replaces healthy liver cells with scar tissue. It takes about 20 to 30 years for this to happen (or faster if alcohol is drunk or if someon...
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U1 snRNP is a Superstar RNA-protein Complex

All life forms are able to survive because they can replicate themselves faithfully and pass on their genes to their progeny. We live in a world where our genetic blueprint is double-stranded DNA built from nucleotides A, T, C, and G. Our DNA sequences are used as a template to form an intermediate molecule called RNA. This messenger RNA is used as a template to form functional molecules called proteins. But this RNA (called pre-mRNA) needs to be processed (into mRNA) before it can be read into a protein. A long time ago it was believed that only other proteins possessed the ability to process pre-mRNA. But one fine day, researchers discovered that RNA could carry out (aka catalyze) its own processing! RNA molecules possessing catalytic ability were termed ‘ribozymes’ (akin to how protein catalysts are called ‘enzymes’) (1).   In particular, scientists discovered RNA sequences called "introns" that can self-catalyze their removal from an mRNA. This is called self-spli...
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