Scientists Create 3-D Image of RNA Molecule

Scientists create the first 3-D image of an RNA molecule. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and New Mexico Consortium (NMC) scientists Doo Nam Kim, Scott P. Hennelly and Karissa Y. Sanbonmatsu and team recently published their  work in the article, Zinc-finger protein CNBP alters the 3-D structure of lncRNA Braveheart in solution, in Nature Communications.

In this work, scientists have created the first 3-D images of a special type of RNA molecule that is critical for stem cell programming. The RNA molecule they focused on has a role in transforming stem cells into heart cells. This research is important because understanding that RNA molecules have a 3-D structure and knowing what it is will help scientists understand how RNAs operate.

In the LANL News article Scientists Image Heart RNA Structure for the First Time, Karissa Sanbonmatsu is quoted as saying, “As far as we know this is the first full 3-D structural study of any long, non-coding RNA (lncRNA) other than a partial structure. A better understanding of these RNAs could lead to new strategies in regenerative medicine for people with heart conditions due to cardiovascular disease or aging.”

Read the entire publication here: Zinc-finger protein CNBP alters the 3-D structure of lncRNA Braveheart in solution. Karissa Y. Sanbonmatsu, Doo Nam Kim and Scott P. Hennelly of Los Alamos National Laboratory and New Mexico Consortium; Bernhard C. Thiel and Ivo L. Hofacker of University of Vienna, Austria; Tyler Mrozowich and Trushar R. Patel of University of Lethbridge, Canada. Nature Communications, DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-13942-4

This research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, Los Alamos Institutional Computing and Los Alamos Laboratory Directed R& D, and Diamond Light Source (UK).

Image from LANL News article and courtesy of Los Alamos National  Laboratory.