Description
RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are a large and diverse class of proteins. They are encoded by more than 1,500 genes in humans. RBPs control every aspect of RNA metabolism and posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression. However, identifying RBPs is challenging because many of them lack clearly identifiable features and are involved in processes not necessarily thought to be RNA related, such as metabolism (all the chemical changes that occur in a cell to break down a molecule). In this study, the researchers developed a novel strategy called photo-activatable-competition and chemo-proteomic enrichment (PACCE) to identify RBPs in living cells. The method uses chemical compounds that can tightly attach to RNA binding sites on proteins. Then, the compounds can be isolated and identified by mass spectrometry, an analytical technique used to determine the type and number of atoms in a molecular substance. In addition to the previously known RBPs, PACCE identified more than 500 potentially novel RBPs that could play a role in gene regulatory networks.
What is exciting about this article?
Changes in the function of RBPs are associated with many human diseases, ranging from autoimmune and neurological disorders to various types of cancer. Thus, the lack of a complete catalogue of RBPs in human cells is a key gap in our understanding of the regulation of gene expression and the development of such diseases. PACCE is a mass spectrometry–based method that takes advantage of the RNA binding activity of proteins for their identification. Its use in a set of cancer cell lines has expanded the RBP catalogue by a few hundred genes, some of which have a known disease association. It will be exciting to study whether these phenotypes have any effect on the proteins’ RNA binding activity.
Grant support
1ZIAAR041205
Research Areas:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIHʼs National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.