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Medicon Valley_dec-jan
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patents | trademarks | designs proteins suppress useless gene activity in human
cells
by peter refsing andersen, torben heick jensen & lisbeth heilesen a new study shows how our
cells
sort the wheat from the chaff in a tangle of useful and useless gene
molecules
in collaboration with inte
rna
tional research groups, a danish research team from aarhus university has now found a mechanism that helps the
cells
prevent accumulation of the many useless
rna
molecules
being constantly produced by runaway gene activity in our
cells
. these fi ndings contribute to a new understanding of our genes and may eventually help our understanding of gene activity in stem
cells
and cancer. protein is made from template
molecules
called
rna
molecules
, which are copies of segments of our dna strands – our genes. a few years ago, a research team from aarhus university showed that the generation of
rna
is far more chaotic than previously assumed. in fact, most of the
rna
molecules
produced in our
cells
do not contain any information that is useful in protein synthesis. the accumulation of these
molecules
is therefore potentially damaging to our
cells
. in collaboration with inte
rna
tional research groups, the same research team has now found a mechanism that helps our
cells
remove the many useless
rna
molecules
produced. contributes to future insight the scientists have found proteins that recognise the ‘runaway gene activity’ that produces the useless
rna
molecules
. runaway gene activity arises when the production of
rna
runs in the wrong direction on the dna strands or when a stop signal in the dna is overlooked and the synthesis therefore runs too far. when the proteins recognise runaway gene activity, they derail the process and channel the useless
rna
molecules
into a degrada- tion process. in this way, the
cells
manage to both suppress the production and degrade the product using just one mechanism. the detected proteins have previously been associated with stem cell development and cancer. an understanding of how these proteins actually function inside the cell is therefore an important prerequisite for fi nding their possible roles in disease. the new fi ndings may therefore contribute to future insight in this regard. the work was carried out by postdoctoral fellows peter refsing andersen and michal domanski and other members of the torben heick jensen laboratory at the danish national research foundation’s centre for mrnp biogenesis and metabolism, depart- ment of molecular biology and genetics, aarhus university. the work was done in collaboration with research groups from odense, montpellier, stockholm, dresden and new york. the new results have just been published online in the jou
rna
l nature structural & molecular biology. the research group is also co-author of another article on the same subject, also published online in nature structural & molecular biology. from left: torben heick jensen, michal domanski and peter refsing andersen (photo: lisbeth heilesen) annual r r r r r r r r r r r r r r ev ev ev ev evi evi evie ev ev evie ev e ev ev evi ev evi ev evie v w 13 w 13 w -14 -14 -14 / de / de de cemb e er-j anua anua ry / ry / p09 p09 p0 patents | trademarks | designs copenhagen | h. c. andersens boulevard 33 | dk-1780 copenhagen v | phone +45 33 19 34 00 aarhus | marselisborg havnevej 36 | dk-8000 aarhus c | phone +45 33 19 35 60 | www.chashude.com chas. hude has established a formula for creating value for you and your business. the means is to use our knowledge in an innovative way within product and business development. and the fuel is commitment which exceeds your highest expectations. at chas. hude, the brightest heads in the ipr field fight to protect your newest inventions, trademarks and designs. always fuelled by enthusiasm, pride and a set of values, which are not empty words, but something we live by every day. chas. hude a/s is one of denmark’s leading companies within ipr consultancy. we protect, monitor, enforce and defend ipr for danish and foreign customers. chas. hude a/s was founded in 1896 and employs 50 people today. meet more of our value- creating employees at www.chashude.com marianne johansen patent director, european patent and design attorney phd (pharmaceutical science) mj@chashude.com expert advisor on: patent applications, opposition and appeal cases, and infringement assessments as well as on strategic ipr questions. her exceptional expertise lies within the fields of pharmaceuticals, medicaments, biotechnology, medicinal chemistry, genetic technology, immunology, vaccines, drug delivery, medicinal treatments and diagnosis. patents | trademarks | designs value = innovation x commitment 2
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