Researchers at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have discovered an unique gene that controls the generation of neurons, and play a crucial role in understanding serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Led by principal investigator Lawrence Stanton, scientists at the GIS discovered an important component within a gene regulatory network that controls the birth of new neurons, dubbed as RMST, which is actually an atypical, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA).
The new findings highlights that the RNA acts directly as a regulatory mechanism and does not produce a protein to handle the regulatory process.
The discovery of how RMST functions inside a gene regulatory network sheds light on the process of neurogenesis, as well as generates new insight into how lncRNA acts together with protein components to regulate the important biological processes of gene expression.
Lawrence Stanton said the new classes of RNA are capable of unanticipated functional diversity.
"However, systematic functional investigations of exactly what, and how, lncRNAs do in our cells remain scant.
"Our study paves the way for understanding a crucial role played by a lncRNA in human neurons." Stanton added.
Malfunctions in neurogenesis cause many neurological disorders, and the new discovery will help in understanding the molecular details of neurogenesis to develop treatments of serious diseases.
