Deep inside our cells鈥攅ach one complete with an identical set of genes鈥攁 molecular machine known as PRC2 plays a critical role in determining which cells become heart cells, versus brain or muscle or skin cells. When the machine is missing or broken, normal fetal development can鈥檛 occur. If it鈥檚 mutated, cells can grow uncontrollably, and cancer can arise鈥攁 fact that has made PRC2 a source of keen interest for drug developers.
New research by scientists at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder and Harvard Medical School offers an unprecedented look at how PRC2, or polycomb repressive complex 2, does its job and, specifically, how ribonucleic acid (RNA) helps it switch genes on and off. Vignesh Kasinath, Kasinath Lab at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder聽is a co-senior author and聽first author, Jiarui Song, is a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow in the Cech Lab at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder.
This research was published on . And聽other co-authors include Anne Gooding, Wayne Hemphill and Liqi Yao of 抖阴旅行射 Boulder and Brittney Love, Anne Robertson, Leonard Zon and Trista North of Harvard Medical School.