Amazing stuff! Only discovered in 2019! Humans have been intensively researching and studying cells since about 1839!
"... It’s long been believed that only proteins and lipids receive these carbohydrate constructs, but a May 17 paper in Cell that builds upon a 2019 bioRxiv preprint posits that RNAs can be glycosylated, too, and these sugar-coated nucleic acids seem to localize to cell membranes. ...
All of this suggests glycoRNAs may play a role in immune signaling. ..."
All of this suggests glycoRNAs may play a role in immune signaling. ..."
"... RNA is not thought to be a major target of glycosylation. Here, we challenge this view with evidence that mammals use RNA as a third scaffold for glycosylation. Using a battery of chemical and biochemical approaches, we found that conserved small noncoding RNAs bear sialylated glycans. These “glycoRNAs” were present in multiple cell types and mammalian species, in cultured cells, and in vivo. GlycoRNA assembly depends on canonical N-glycan biosynthetic machinery and results in structures enriched in sialic acid and fucose. Analysis of living cells revealed that the majority of glycoRNAs were present on the cell surface and can interact with anti-dsRNA antibodies and members of the Siglec receptor family. Collectively, these findings suggest the existence of a direct interface between RNA biology and glycobiology, and an expanded role for RNA in extracellular biology. ... [This discovery was made possible] in the field of bioorthogonal chemistry, which aims to develop chemical methods for tracking biomolecules in their native environments. Her lab was brimming with reagents that label specific kinds of glycans without harming other molecules or setting off side-reactions. ..."
Here is the link to the underlying research article:
No comments:
Post a Comment