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3D rendering of a liposome containing RNA strand
Cancer

Scientists design a circular RNA against adenocarcinoma

Oct. 19, 2023
By Mar de Miguel
The mRNA technology used in vaccines against viral infections could also be developed for cancer therapies. A group of scientists has designed a circular RNA (circRNA) encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that acts in the mitochondria of tumor cells through the protein gasdermin-D (GSDMD) and reduces adenocarcinoma. The work was published on Oct. 16, 2023, in Nature Cancer.
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3D rendered illustration of a synapse cross-section
Neurology/Psychiatric

Reduced RNA editing reveals mitochondrial dysfunction in schizophrenia

April 11, 2023
By Mar de Miguel
RNA editing in schizophrenia (SCZ)-associated genes was decreased in postmortem brains of individuals of European descent, according to a study from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The scientists obtained the RNA editome from SCZ brains to detect the sequence changes in their RNA and observed hypoediting in noncoding regions related to mitochondrial function, such as the mitofusin-1 (MFN1) gene.
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Neurology/Psychiatric

Blocking nuclear export of ALS/FTD troublemaker helps neurons survive

March 3, 2023
By Anette Breindl
Treatment with a cell-penetrating peptide that prevented nuclear export of unprocessed C9ORF72 RNA and its subsequent translation into neurotoxic dipeptide repeat proteins reduced motor neuron damage and death both in fruit fly models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in patient-derived induced neuronal precursor cells (iNPCs). The work suggests that targeting nuclear export could be a therapeutic option in ALS, and possibly also frontotemporal dementia (FTD), where C9ORF72 mutations also play a role.
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RNA strand
Drug Design, Drug Delivery & Technologies

Cas12a2 elicits abortive infection and can be repurposed as an RNA-guided RNA-targeting tool

Jan. 20, 2023
Bacterial abortive infection is a defense mechanism by which an infected bacterial cell enters dormancy or dies to limit phage replication and protect the clonal population. Recent studies observed that CRISPR RNA-guided adaptive immune systems that target RNA also cause abortive-infection phenotypes by activating indiscriminate nucleases.
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