RNA (ribonucleic acid)

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)

Main article: DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)

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2024: Role of RNA in cancer first discovered

On October 2, 2024, American specialists from the University of Chicago and the University of Texas at San Antonio released the results of a study that shed light for the first time on the role of RNA in the formation of malignant tumors. We are talking, in particular, about the development of blood cancer (leukemia) and the brain.

The scientists found that the gene with the designation TET2 controls the process of RNA methylation, which, in turn, affects the expression of genes and the structure of DNA packaging. At the same time, mutations in the TET2 can disrupt this process, provoking incorrect packaging of chromatin, the nucleoprotein that forms the basis of chromosomes. It is in the composition of chromatin that genetic information is implemented, as well as DNA replication and repair.

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It turned out that the TET2 gene controls the modification of RNA, which attracts the MBD6 protein involved in chromatin packaging. At an early age, when active development of the body occurs, the action of the TET2 is weakened so that chromatin is more accessible, and stem cells can turn into other types of cells. But as you get older, the action of the TET2 should intensify. If this does not happen, the MBD6 receives complete freedom of action, as a result of which "cellular chaos" can occur. Ultimately, this can result in the development of a malignant formation.

Experiments with leukemia cells have shown that removing the cells' ability to create a MBD6 protein leads to the death of all cancer structures. This discovery in the future may lead to the emergence of new highly effective methods of therapy of malignant formations. In particular, it is said about the prospects for the creation of next-generation drugs that selectively destroy cancer cells associated with mutations in the TET2 gene.^[1]

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