RNA Biology
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RNA Biology
@rna-biology.bsky.social
Exploring the RNA revolution! Sharing articles and insights on RNA biology, cutting-edge therapeutics, and groundbreaking advances. Join the conversation and let’s delve into the science shaping the future!
Reposted by RNA Biology
Coupling dCas13 with compartment-specific signals or motor proteins enables programmable control of endogenous mRNA localization and reveals spatial transcriptome functions in neurons #NBThighlight www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Programmable control of spatial transcriptome in live cells and neurons - Nature
CRISPR-TO, a system for programmable control of spatial localization of cellular RNAs, is presented and enables functional investigation of endogenous RNA localization in diverse living cells.
nature.com
May 23, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by RNA Biology
New paper:
More than 2700 human 3′UTRs are highly conserved. These 3′UTRs are essential components in mRNA templates, as their deletion decreases protein activity without changing protein abundance. Highly conserved 3′UTRs help the folding of proteins with long IDRs.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
mRNA 3′UTRs chaperone intrinsically disordered regions to control protein activity
More than 2,700 human mRNA 3′UTRs have hundreds of highly conserved (HC) nucleotides, but their biological roles are unclear. Here, we show that mRNAs with HC 3′UTRs mostly encode proteins with long intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), including MYC, UTX, and JMJD3. These proteins are only fully active when translated from mRNA templates that include their 3′UTRs, raising the possibility of functional interactions between 3′UTRs and IDRs. Rather than affecting protein abundance or localization, we find that HC 3′UTRs control transcriptional or histone demethylase activity through co-translationally determined protein oligomerization states that are kinetically stable. 3′UTR-dependent changes in protein folding require mRNA-IDR interactions, suggesting that mRNAs act as IDR chaperones. These mRNAs are multivalent, a biophysical RNA feature that enables their translation in network-like condensates, which provide favorable folding environments for proteins with long IDRs. These data indicate that the coding sequence is insufficient for the biogenesis of biologically active conformations of IDR-containing proteins and that RNA can catalyze protein folding. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Pershing Square Foundation, https://ror.org/04tce9s05 G. Harold & Leila Y. Mathers Foundation National Institutes of Health, DP1GM123454, R35GM144046 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, https://ror.org/02yrq0923, P30 CA008748
www.biorxiv.org
July 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by RNA Biology
🧬🧫🦠 @science.org Bacterial reverse transcriptase synthesizes long poly-A–rich cDNA for antiphage defense | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #microbiology #bacteriophage #antiphage #immunity #DNA #RNAsky #RT #Cryo-EM #DRT9
May 2, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by RNA Biology
Groundbreaking?
1/10 Today in @science.org in collaboration with
the Liu group we report the development of a laboratory-evolved CRISPR-associated transposase (evoCAST) that supports therapeutically relevant levels of RNA-programmable gene insertion in human cells. drive.google.com/file/d/1I-Ub...
May 16, 2025 at 6:42 AM