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Atlas of RNA-binding proteins

July 23, 2012

First complete atlas of RNA-binding proteins could point to function of genes linked to diseases

In one of the most famous faux pas of exploration, Columbus set sail for India and instead 'discovered' America. Similarly, when scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, set out to find enzymes - the proteins that carry out chemical reactions inside cells - that bind to RNA, they too found more than they expected: 300 proteins previously unknown to bind to RNA - more than half as many as were already known to do so. The study, published online in Cell, could help to explain the role of genes that have been linked to diseases like diabetes and glaucoma.

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