New technology reveals how RNA shapes influence protein production and stability
New technology reveals how RNA shapes influence protein production and stability
Publish Date: 2026-05-15 00:28:00
Source Domain: www.news-medical.net
Researchers from A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new method, called ‘sm-PORE-cupine’, to study individual RNA molecules and reveal how their structures influence gene regulation, a fundamental process that affects how cells function in health and disease.
RNA is best known for carrying genetic instructions from DNA to make proteins. However, RNA does more than act as a messenger. Like a string that can bend, fold and interact with other molecules, RNA can adopt different shapes that affect how it behaves in the cell. These shapes can influence how efficiently proteins are produced, how long RNA molecules last, and how diseases such as viral infections progress.
Until now, studying these structures in detail has been difficult because RNA is highly flexible and dynamic. Most existing methods only provide an average picture across many RNA molecules, making it harder to see how individual RNA molecules may fold differently, even when they come from the same gene.
Reading RNA one molecule at a time
To address this challenge, the A*STAR GIS team developed a new technology called sm-PORE-cupine, which combines chemical labelling with direct RNA sequencing to detect changes in RNA structure.
The technology uses optimized chemical compounds to mark non-paired RNA bases, which are parts of the molecule that are more exposed. These marks act like signposts, giving researchers clues about how the RNA is folded. Nanopore direct RNA sequencing then reads the full-length RNA molecules, allowing scientists to study their structures in greater detail.
By applying advanced computational analysis, the team could interpret these signals at single-molecule resolution, helping them see how RNAs from the same gene can fold and behave differently.
Linking RNA structure to cell behavior
Using sm-PORE-cupine, the researchers observed that RNA molecules can adopt different structures, and that these differences are linked to how…
