A group led by Assistant Professor Dan Ohtan Wang
from Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences
(iCeMS) in Japan successfully visualized RNA behavior and its response
to drugs within the living tissue brain of live mice by labeling
specific RNA molecules with fluorescent probes. Their study, published
in Nucleic Acids Research, can potentially lead to faster, and more
accurate screening processes for the discovery and development of new
drugs.
RNA is a molecule that plays a key role within a living organism,
holding information as to when, where and how much protein must be
allocated, which is also responsible for controlling the biological
reactions within a living cell. RNAs behave uniquely and are distributed
unequally in each cell, existing more in some areas of the cell than
others depending on environmental factors and cell conditions. In some
cases, these chemical changes can put the cell’s health at risk due to
RNA disruption. However, it is unclear as to how the distribution of RNA
molecules is regulated in the cell, and what causes them to act
abnormally.
By introducing a non-toxic, fluorescent probe within the brain of live
mice, the team succeeded in visualizing targeted RNA in the cell
nucleus. This fluorescent probe emits varying intensities of light
depending on RNA concentration levels enabling the team to effectively
quantitatively analyze RNA in the living body. The imaging technique,
for the first time in the world, quantitatively conveyed that the RNA
behavior in live tissue differed from that of a cultured cell when a
drug was administered.
Wang hopes that this new imaging technique can help reveal “the natural
state of RNA,” that allows us to observe the emergence and disappearance
of RNA clusters in many types of species, including those that cannot
be genetically engineered. “Our next goal is to investigate differences
of RNA activity in a live, single cell, what regulates RNA activity, and
compare healthy tissue and unhealthy tissue to elucidate gene
expression mechanisms and pathologies caused by abnormal RNA activity.”
