Scientists have revealed the important function of ring RNA in natural immunity

when long chains of RNA (RNA) "transform" into ring RNA, do these "remodeled" RNAs change even "intensions"? For the first time, the Chen Lingling research team at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that this group of uniquely structured ring RNA inhibits the activity of the natural immunogenic factor PKR, and that the ring RNA is "cleared" on a large scale when a cell is infected with the virus, thus releasing PKR to participate in antiviral immunity, revealing that the "low content" of ring RNA in patients is closely related to the autoimmune disease, systemic lupus disease.
25, the results of the study were published in the international authoritative academic journal Cell.
years, with the development of science and technology, tens of thousands of ring RNA hidden in cells have gradually surfaced. But compared with the line RNA, which has been repeatedly analyzed in depth by scientists and demonstrated to be closely related to human life activity, there are still many unsolwed mysteries about the "new man" of the RNA molecular family, the ring RNA.
Chen Lingling's team recently found in the study of the secondary structure of ring RNA that these ring RNA with closed-loop structures are not simple inside, tending to form 16-26 base pairs of stem ring structure. Their unique "styling" can be identified and combined by the natural immune factor PKR, thus inhibiting PKR activity and avoiding the immune response caused by PKR overactivation in the body. The RNA enzyme RNase L in the cell restores PKR to its free body, which, stimulated by the virus, can act on the ring RNA, "cutting" it to degrade, while the slow ring RNA production speed is not fast enough to compensate for these degraded ring RNA, PKR is able to release the participating cells of the antiviral immune process.
researchers tested data from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus for autoimmune diseases and found that RNase L was in a "weakly active state", with a low number of ring RNA, and that PKR and its downstream immune signaling path paths were overactive in the body. By using techniques to increase the number of ring RNA in the immune cells of the patient's source, the researchers observed that the overactivation of PKR and its downstream immune signaling path pathstreams were significantly "controlled". The researchers found that ring RNA manages the activity of the antiviral "guardian", the natural immune factor PKR, just like the "angels" involved in the regulation and stability of the natural immune system. In cases where cells are infected with "pests" - viruses, "angel" ring RNA is "cleared" on a large scale to release antiviral "guardian" PKR to participate in the antiviral immune response, while in patients with systemic lupus disease, an autoimmune disease overactive by antiviral "guardian" PKR, the ring RNA content is significantly reduced and cannot continue to function as a stable "angel" of the natural immune system.
Chen Lingling, lead author of the paper, told China Science that the findings not only reveal for the first time the pathways of the degradation of ring RNA and its special secondary structural characteristics, but also suggest that ring RNA, a previously neglected family of new RNA molecules, can play a new role in immune regulation by forming a double-stranded ring structure. Their "slow generation", "rapid degradation" and "formation of stem ring structure" make them play an important role in regulating immune stabilization.
study provides the basis for the study of the metabolism and function of ring RNA in natural immunity and provides new ideas for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases.
It is understood that Liu Chuxuan, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cells, Li Ling, a doctoral student, and Nan Fang, a doctoral student at the Institute of Computational Biology Partners of the Chinese Academy of Sciences-Mapu Society, are co-authors of the paper, yang Li Researcher of the Institute of Computational Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences-Mapu Society, and Shen Nan, a researcher at Renji Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, are co-authors of the paper. This work has been supported by researcher Zhou Zhaocai of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cells, molecular biology technology platform and cell analysis technology platform, and funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Fund Committee. (Source: Science Network Huang Xin Lin Binxia)
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