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University of Delaware biochemist Jeff Mugridge is trying to figure
out how so-called mRNA eraser enzymes work in our cells, why those
erasers can sometimes misbehave and lead to cancer, and how science can
pave the way for possible solutions to this problem.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a single-stranded molecule that is copied
from the DNA in our bodies. Messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules carry the
instruction code that tells our cells how to do everything they need to
survive, such as when, where and how to make proteins or enzymes.
One of the many ways the cells in our bodies control mRNA molecules
is to decorate them with different chemical groups that either subtly or
drastically change the way that messages are conveyed.
Mugridge, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry,
was recently awarded $1,956,466 from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) to study specific enzymes that can act like erasers and remove
critical chemical groups, called methyl groups, found on mRNA molecules.
With hard-to-treat cancers like glioblastoma, sometimes these methyl
eraser enzymes are overexpressed in cancer cells — meaning too many
eraser enzymes are working at once. This can cause mRNA molecules to
lack important information, which can change the messages they deliver
in a way that leads to cancer progression and tumor growth.
Little is known about how these eraser enzymes decide which methyl
groups to eliminate or keep, how often they erase methyl groups in
healthy cells or why they misbehave in some human diseases.