The Institute of Zoology Collaborated to Discover the Mechanism of PCBP2 Regulation of cGAS-DNA Phase Transition

Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), as a DNA-recognition receptor in the cytoplasm, plays an important role in the body's innate immune response against DNA viruses and bacteria

After cGAS binds DNA in vivo and in vitro, it can form phase separation, thereby increasing the local concentration of cGAS, enhancing the enzymatic activity of cGAS, and then synthesizing cGAMP more efficiently

On March 23, 2022, the laboratory of Sun Qinmei, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the laboratory of Chen Dahua of Yunnan University jointly published an online publication titled "PCBP2 maintains antiviral signaling homeostasis by regulating cGAS enzymatic activity via antagonizing its condensation" in the journal Nature Communications.

In order to further analyze the regulatory mechanism of cGAS, the researchers first screened one of the proteins, PCBP2, which has a strong interaction with cGAS, through co-immunoprecipitation experiments combined with mass spectrometry analysis

Researcher Sun Qinmiao and Professor Chen Dahua are the co-corresponding authors of the paper

Article link: https:// align="center">

Graphic: PCBP2 inhibits phase separation of cGAS-DNA