“Viruses in genome important for our brain.” and “Study finds new target for controlling cell division.” (Folding.) María Manuela Echavarría Noreña

Medicine Student – Molecular Biology

UPB

Introduction

In the next section, we will briefly discuss two current news on molecular biology, which clearly show its applicability in the areas of health, biological, among others.

The news are:

• “Viruses in genome important for our brain.”

• “Study finds new target for controlling cell division.”

“Viruses in genome important for our brain.” To understand this news, it is important to first understand what a retrovirus is, and what it has to do with our genome.

• Broadly speaking, a retrovirus is any of a family of single-stranded RNA viruses. They contain an enzyme that allows for a reversal of genetic transcription, that is, they make it possible to obtain DNA from RNA.

“Viruses in genome important for our brain.” Over millions of years retroviruses have been incorporated into our DNA, and now they account for 8-10 per cent of the total genome. They are called endogenous retroviruses.

They are believed to play an important role in gene expression, development and probably genetic disease. They can have both beneficial and malignant effects, for this, there are proteins that control them.

“Viruses in genome important for our brain.” • As we well know, there are portions of our DNA that are not

expressed and that apparently does not have a function. They have been called junk DNA, endogenous retroviruses are part of this.

• Several of the retroviruses that have established themselves in human genome may serve as "docking platforms" for a protein: TRIM28, that has the ability to "switch off" viruses, and the standard genes near to them, allowing the presence of endogenous retroviruses to affect gene expression.

“Viruses in genome important for our brain.”

The brain is a very complex organ, it requires the expression of many genes for optimum development.

Endogenous retroviruses may play a fundamental role and little explored in the expression of genes that have to do with development, evolution and diseases of this.

Commentary

The fact that the possible involvement of endogenous retroviruses in the expression of other genes has been discovered, makes us rethink the functioning of DNA, as well as generates curiosity and invites to investigate thoroughly the so-called "junk DNA" to see if really is “junk”. Studies like this, shows us that we have much to know and understand about our genetic information, and that things that we take for granted, may be wrong. Very interesting, it is an opener for everything that awaits us in the fields of health and science

“Study finds new target for controlling cell division.” • It was discovered that the proteins involved in the formation

of lipids and membranes are synthesized with a much greater efficiency when a cell is ready to do its mitosis.

“Study finds new target for controlling cell division.” • It is important to know what proteins are involved in cell

division, how are produced and their normal behavior, because

• When the control over these proteins is lost, the normal functioning of the cell can be damaged and, of course, its mitosis. This can trigger serious diseases such as cancer.

“Study finds new target for controlling cell division.” • It is said that this finding opens doors to the control of cell

division in other studies.

• No study had been asked directly and exhaustively about the efficiency with which each protein occurs during cell division and found that none is done with the same efficacy.

“Study finds new target for controlling cell division.” • Understanding this will clarify information about cell division.

It will know when the division will start, the speed with which it is given, the coordination of the number of divisions with respect to the availability of nutrients, and so on.

Commentary

• It is essential to know exhaustively all the processes that are linked to the cell division, its speed, its quality and other variables, what will allow to make studies more faithful to the reality and to look for the form to control or to avoid the cancer; One of the diseases that affects society today. An interesting news, important and like the other, is the news that there is yet much that remains to be discovered and what we can do for our patients.

Medical utility: “Viruses in genome important for our brain.”

Knowing the true functioning of our genetic information will open doors for us to understand better how we are conformed.

Once we understand this well, we can better understand how these diseases occur in which our genome and its expression are involved.

The brain is our center of operations, an organ more than vital, we know that by its complexity, the brain uses a large part of the human genome.

Medical utility: “Viruses in genome important for our brain.”

This is why it is so important to begin to take into account that this "junk" DNA that supposedly had no function has parts that come from retroviruses that many years ago began infecting germ cells of our ancestors and that became endogenous retroviruses, and that those, thanks to a protein called TRIM28, can intervene in the expression or not of some genes.

Understanding this, can lead us to understand what is or is not expressing and generating brain diseases of genetic origin. After understanding this well, it would be possible to look for alternatives to avoid suffering them.

Medical utility: “Study finds new target for controlling cell division.”

The importance of this finding, lies in the fact that cancer is a disease that increasingly afflicts society.

Cancer is a disease that we know more, however, its treatment is very aggressive, and avoiding it is almost impossible.

Knowing every detail gives us an opportunity to make treatments more comfortable for the patient or gives us hope of finding how to avoid cancer or even how to cure it.

Medical utility: “Study finds new target for controlling cell division.”

But for all this, you must first do experiments, and it would be a great advantage to know better the dynamics of the division and to be able to modify it to interest in order to discover more things that could be represented in treatments and / or preventive methods for all types Of diseases.

References

• Heidi M Blank, Ricardo Perez, Chong He, Nairita Maitra, Richard Metz, Joshua Hill, Yuhong Lin, Charles D Johnson, Vytas A Bankaitis, Brian K Kennedy, Rodolfo Aramayo, Michael Polymenis. Translational control of lipogenic enzymes in the cell cycle of synchronous, growing yeast cells. The EMBO Journal, 2017; e201695050 DOI: 10.15252/embj.201695050

• Lund University. (2017, January 12). Viruses in genome important for our brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 21, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170112110840.htm

• Per Ludvik Brattås, Marie E. Jönsson, Liana Fasching, Jenny Nelander Wahlestedt, Mansoureh Shahsavani, Ronny Falk, Anna Falk, Patric Jern, Malin Parmar, Johan Jakobsson. TRIM28 Controls a Gene Regulatory Network Based on Endogenous Retroviruses in Human Neural Progenitor Cells. Cell Reports, 2017; 18 (1): 1 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.12.010

• Texas A&M AgriLife Communications. (2017, January 18). Study finds new target for controlling cell division. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 21, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170118125223.htm

• TRIM28 Represses Transcription of Endogenous Retroviruses in Neural Progenitor Cells. Fasching L, et al. Cell Rep. 2015. 10(1): 20-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.12.004.

¡Thanks!