Amazing stuff! This could be a breakthrough!
"... vaults, the microscopic barrels found by the thousands in most cells, because there’s always hope it might resolve their function—a mystery ... since the 1990s. ..."
"The barrel-shaped structures found by the thousands in most animal cells are one of biology’s biggest mysteries. But although researchers haven’t figured out the function of these “vaults,” they now report a new use for the puzzling particles. A team has engineered vaults to scoop up RNA and record nearly all gene activity in groups of cells for up to 7 days, providing an unprecedented look into their past. ..."
From the abstract:
"Understanding how cells make decisions over time requires the ability to link past molecular states to future phenotypic outcomes.
We present TimeVault, a genetically encoded system that records and stores transcriptomes within living mammalian cells for future readout.
TimeVault leverages engineered vault particles that capture mRNA through poly(A) binding protein. We demonstrate that the transcriptome stored by TimeVaults is stable in living cells for over 7 days.
TimeVault enables high-fidelity transcriptome-wide recording with minimal cellular perturbation, capturing transient stress responses and revealing gene expression changes underlying drug-naive persister states in lung cancer cells that evade EGFR inhibition.
By linking past and present cellular states, TimeVault provides a powerful tool for decoding how cells respond to stress, make fate decisions, and resist therapy."
Scientists turn cells’ most mysterious structures into spies on genetic activity | Science | AAAS "Enigmatic ‘vaults’ can be engineered to eavesdrop on RNA, aiding cancer studies and more"
A genetically encoded device for transcriptome storage in mammalian cells (no public access)
A new method for tracking gene activity captures and stores cells’ protein-building instructions, strands of messenger RNA (mRNA), inside structures called vaults. Scientists added a protein domain that binds to the major vault protein (MVP) and to poly (A) binding protein (PABP), which naturally attaches to mRNA. This fusion protein (left panel) then secures captured mRNAs to the interior of the vault (right panel).
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