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Scientists at Umea University in Sweden have shown that the movement of a unique protein complex known as Mediator along with DNA genes can influence the process of cell division. This finding could be important for further studies on the management of particular diseases.
“We have gained deep knowledge about how cell division is regulated,” says Professor Stefan Björklund of the department, which will help in understanding the causes of various diseases caused by errors in cell division, such as various tumor diseases. be important for.” of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Umea University and lead author of the study.
Every cell has a machinery called ribosome. It makes proteins using DNA as a template, which are necessary for almost all cellular functions. But first, in a process known as transcription, cells must make a copy of the instructions in the mRNA.
The research team at Umea University has discovered how Mediator, a protein complex in the cell nucleus, can bind to DNA and interact with another protein complex, LSM1-7, to regulate the production of ribosome-forming proteins. Is. Studies show that when cells become too dense, cell division slows down. When this happens, Mediator moves to the end of the gene where it interacts with Lsm1-7. This has a dual effect, slowing down the reading of genes and interfering with the maturation of mRNA. As a result, the production of ribosomal proteins decreases and thus cell division slows down.
A possible direction of future research could be to study whether it is possible to control the state of the mediator to prevent rapid cell division, for example in tumors.
“We are still in the early stages of research in this area, so more study is needed before we can say this is a viable route, but it is an exciting opportunity,” says Stefan Björklund.
The study has been conducted in yeast cells which serve as a good model to understand the basic mechanisms that work in a similar way in more complex systems such as animal and plant cells.
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