The chemical steps in an important cellular modification process that adds a chemical tag to some RNAs have been revealed in a new study. Interfering with this process in humans can lead to neuronal diseases, diabetes, and cancers. A research team, led by chemists at Penn State, has imaged a protein that facilitates this RNA modification in bacteria, allowing the researchers to reconstruct the process. A paper describing the modification process appears Sept. 15 in the journal Nature.
Transfer RNAs (tRNA) are the RNAs that “read” the genetic code and translate it into a sequence of amino acids to make a protein. The addition of a chemical tag — a methyl sulfur group — to a particular location on some tRNAs improves their ability to translate messenger RNA into proteins. When this modification process — called methylthiolation — doesn’t occur properly, mistakes can be incorporated…
