A newfound biomolecule, consisting of RNA modified by sugars
news.stanford.edu
news.stanford.edu
* glycans are a common carbohydrate found on cell surfaces that are known to modify lipids and proteins in a process called glycosylation.
* previously, it was assumed glycans only bind to lipids and proteins. the research team discovered glycans can also bind to RNA, discovering a new class of biomolecule called glycoRNA.
* subsequent experiments revealed this biomolecule is found in many different cell types, including animal, plant and microbial cells.
* glycans and RNA are traditionally distinct fields, but the lead author, ryan flynn, leveraged his RNA background to explore a question that glycan experts had considered unlikely to bear fruit.
* the immune system of people suffering from lupus, an autoimmune disease, targets several of the RNAs comprising glycoRNA. this suggests glycoRNA merits further research, as it may represent a link in pathogenesis and could offer scientists new therapeutic avenues if so.
"Small RNAs are modified with N-glycans and displayed on the surface of living cells" by Ryan A. Flynn, Kayvon Pedram, et al.
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00503-1
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.023
Given the Sci-Hub moratorium on new uploads[1] , this is not publicly availble.
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Notes:
1. See: https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/pdf_upload-386427.pdf (pdf) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25550058
i’ll do this next time.
the goal was to stimulate discussion on two points:
1) scientists discovering a fundamental biomolecule in 2021 is astounding and proves how opaque human physiology remains; how can we accelerate science and deepen our understanding? (putting papers like this in the public domain is step one.)
2) what are good research questions for probing the potential link between glycoRNA and disease?
(Not able to read a PDF right at this moment. Contextualising naked links is helpful.)