microRNAs can play a job in cancer development and are thought to exclusively suppress protein expression in dividing cells, akin to tumor cells. But latest research published in ACS Central Science shows that a few of these tiny molecules can elevate the expression of a specific gene in dividing human cells and in cancer cells, difficult conventional wisdom.

Only just a few nucleotides in length, microRNAs, or miRNAs for brief, don’t encode proteins. As an alternative, they largely downregulate, or suppress, protein production by silencing the expression of certain genes. One class of cellular machinery regulated by miRNAs are the enzymes involved in mediating glycosylation, which add carbohydrates to certain proteins. In cancer cells, nevertheless, this process might be highly dysregulated, suggesting that miRNAs could possibly be doing something unusual. So, Lara Mahal and colleagues set out to research exactly how miRNAs function inside the glycosylation process, and whether the molecules may be functioning in a latest way.

Previously, the researchers developed a fluorescence assay that may analyze how miRNAs interact with their targets, and whether or not they increase or decrease the quantity of protein produced. They used the assay to research the regulation of cancer-related glycosylation enzymes ST6GAL1 and ST6GAL2, and located that for the previous, the miRNAs appeared to directly upregulate the method in noncancerous human cells. This challenges the present understanding that miRNAs only downregulate protein production. In addition they tested for miRNA-mediated upregulation in multiple cancer cell lines and observed the identical results. The researchers say that this work expands the understanding of how miRNAs work, a crucial consideration for using miRNA-based therapeutics in each current and future clinical trials.

Source:

American Chemical Society

Journal reference:

Jame-Chenarboo, F., et al. (2022) High-Throughput Evaluation Reveals miRNA Upregulating α-2,6-Sialic Acid through Direct miRNA–mRNA Interactions. ACS Central Science. doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.2c00748.