RNA may Hold Potency to Repair Cancer Cells

Certain RNA molecules are shown to control the repair of damaged DNA in cancer cells as per a study at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, published in the journal Nature Communications. This discovery could eventually give rise to better cancer treatments. The long assumed notion of RNA molecules (as basic molecules that only participated in protein synthesis) now requires modified functionality according to the present study as the RNA molecules have a much broader function and can play a key role in the development of disease like cancer.

“Our findings show that some RNA can bind to an enzyme that repairs damaged DNA and operate like an ‘on-off’ button for this enzyme, thereby controlling DNA repair. We’ve also discovered that altered levels of such RNA leads to faulty DNA repair in cancer cells. This can open up new approaches to the treatment of cancer, such as using synthetic RNA molecules to stimulate cell death in cancer cells,” says the study’s corresponding author Marianne Farnebo, a researcher at the department of cell and molecular biology and the department of biosciences and nutrition at Karolinska Institutet.

The study further hopes to enhance the understanding of the RNA in DNA repair and cancer.



Source-Medindia