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    Home > Food News > Food Articles > "Dark matter" DNA affects brain development

    "Dark matter" DNA affects brain development

    • Last Update: 2021-03-07
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    lab mice helped researchers explore confusing "dark matter" DNA.
    photo source: Alexander Badyaev/naturepl.com
    For more than a decade, puzzles caused by fragments of "dark matter" in the genome (long strands of DNA entangled with no apparent function) have puzzled scientists. Now, a team has finally solved the puzzle.
    the puzzle focuses on not encoding proteins but maintaining the same DNA sequence in many animals. By removing some of these "ultraconservative elements," the researchers found that these sequences fine-tune the gene expression of encoded proteins to guide brain development.
    study, published
    the journal Alzheimer's, may help researchers better understand neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. It also validates the hypothesis that all ultraconservative elements are vital to life, although researchers know little about their function.
    that encode proteins usually have relatively few mutations, because if these changes interfere with the protein and the animal dies before reproduction, the mutated genes are not passed on to future generations. Based on this logic, some genomicists suspect that natural selection can remove mutations in ultraconservative regions in a similar way. They believe that even if these sequences do not encode proteins, their function is certainly important.
    , however, this assumption encountered a "roadblock" in 2007. At the time, a team reported knocking out four ultraconservative elements in the mice and finding that the animals looked good and were able to reproduce normally. "This finding is shocking - these mice should have died." Diane Dickel, a genomicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and lead author of the new study, said.
    Dickel and colleagues re-examined the issue using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tools. They removed four ultraconservative elements from the mice, either in combination or in various combinations. The DNA region in which these elements are located also contains genes that play an important role in brain development. The mice also looked good. However, when the researchers discomposed the rodents' brains, they found abnormalities.
    mice that lacked a specific sequence had very few brain cells associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Another ultraconservative element was removed in mice with abnormalities in the pre-brain regions of parts involved in memory formation and epilepsy. "Usually, it looks like a sword. But inside the brains of these mice, the sword was bent. Dickel said.
    believes the resulting cognitive impairment could endanger mice in the wild. As a result, differences in these ultraconservative regions do not spread throughout the population, as tortured individuals have a lower success rate in breeding. Further research will look at whether people with Alzheimer's disease, mental disorders, epilepsy, or other neurological disorders have mutations in these previously overlooked non-coding sequences. (Source: Science Network Zonghua)
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