Henninger Explores Targeting RNA in Cancer Prevention, Treatment

 


Henninger studies gene expression, how the DNA genetic code is read out by the cell to instruct protein production. For a cell to express a gene, RNA molecules are first made as copies of the DNA and used to make specific proteins. 

Henninger and others have found that RNA molecules can do more than carry a message from DNA: They directly influence multiple steps in gene expression. One way is by controlling tiny compartments inside cells formed by proteins and nucleic acids, called biomolecular condensates. These condensates act like specialized workstations, concentrating molecules that work together to orchestrate ongoing biological activity.

“RNA acts as a very important scaffold that these condensates form around,” Henninger said. “If proteins were like chess pieces, where each one moves differently and plays different roles, DNA and RNA would be like the chessboard, which dictates how the pieces arrange and limits how they can move. There’s an intimate linkage between thinking about RNA’s structures and properties and how that affects both the formation and dissolution of condensates involved in gene expression.”

Precision medicine at the genetic level with RNA-based therapies

Many human diseases, including cancer, result from mistakes during gene expression. However, there are few drugs that can specifically target gene expression to correct the process and rejuvenate cellular function. The genome revolution has also revealed thousands of genetic variants linked to disease, many of which lie in regions that regulate gene activity. Henninger said he believes some of these variants disrupt RNA function — a possibility that his lab is actively investigating.

His team is developing new tools to study RNA and visualize transcription — the first step in the process by which genes are activated in cells. One major focus is understanding how mutations in RNA-binding proteins contribute to blood cancers like acute myeloid leukemia.

Event Name : International Molecular Biologist Awards

Website Link: molecularbiologist.org

Contact Mail ID : support@molecularbiologist.org

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