Biological mechanism discovered that could lead to new treatments for neurological disorders and cancers

The lab of Yongchao C. Ma, Ph.D., at Stanley Manne Kids’s Analysis Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Kids’s Hospital of Chicago has found a basic organic mechanism that might result in new remedies for neurological ailments, similar to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and autism, in addition to completely different cancers.

The research was printed within the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

Dr. Ma’s workforce discovered that chemical modification of RNA (known as RNA methylation) regulates mitochondrial operate. Mitochondria is finest recognized for producing vitality within the cell. Nonetheless, Dr. Ma explains, mitochondria does rather more. It additionally acts as a signaling heart that regulates broad organic processes inside the cell. Dr. Ma’s lab had beforehand linked mitochondrial dysfunction to the event of SMA and autism, whereas different labs have implicated it in most cancers pathogenesis.

“Our discovering establishes a crucial hyperlink between RNA methylation, mitochondria and ailments that relate to mitochondrial dysfunction, which signifies that now we’ve potential for brand spanking new remedies for a lot of completely different problems,” mentioned Dr. Ma, who’s the senior writer on the research. He holds the Kids’s Analysis Fund Endowed Professorship in Neurobiology at Lurie Kids’s and is Affiliate Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Neuroscience at Northwestern College Feinberg Faculty of Medication.

Dr. Ma’s lab discovered that RNA methylation regulates mitochondrial operate by controlling manufacturing of key enzymes which might be elements of mitochondria. They demonstrated in a neural stem cell mannequin and a mouse mannequin that lack of RNA methylation considerably modified mitochondrial operate in stem cells and neurons.

“We’re very enthusiastic about this discovery and the promise of revolutionary remedies, which might contain growing modifiers of RNA methylation to rectify the mitochondrial defect,” mentioned Dr. Ma. “We’re additionally honored to contribute considerably to the research of RNA methylation. There’s exponential progress on this area, and we hope that our ongoing analysis on RNA methylation within the nervous system will convey new insights on mind growth and neurological problems.”