Protein
Kinase R and dsRNAs, New Regulators of Mammalian Cell
Division December
2nd,
2014
Discovery
of new regulators of cell division
The
research team of the Center for RNA Research at IBS has succeeded in
revealing that the dsRNAs and Protein Kinase R (PKR) regulate
division of mammalian cells.
This
finding will provide important clues to understanding the process of
tumor formation and the mechanism for suppressing cancer since the
abnormal cell division marks the early events of cancer development.
For
the first time, the IBS research team has found that during mitosis,
the cellular dsRNAs activate PKR, an enzyme previously known as a
trigger of immune response during virus infection. Activated PKR then
regulates protein synthesis and orchestrates mitotic processes.
Disruption of PKR activation resulted in misexpression of mitotic
factors, delay in mitotic progression, and ultimately defects in cell
division.
Overall,
the research team has demonstrated a novel function of PKR in
regulating cell cycle and dsRNA as a signal transmitter that delivers
information via PKR during mitosis.
In
their follow-up research, they also found that PKR activation during
mitosis is tightly regulated by TAR RNA Binding Protein (TRBP), an
inhibitor of PKR activation. This work demonstrates that TRBP, apart
from its known function in microRNA biogenesis, also controls the
cell cycle by regulating PKR activation.
“This
achievement will introduce a new research direction in understanding
the functions of various genes implicated in immune reaction as well
as the cellular roles of dsRNAs that were previously considered as
junk” says V. Narry Kim, both the director of the Center for RNA
Research at IBS and the professor of the School of Biological
Sciences at the Seoul National University.
###
Notes
for editors
Yoosik
Kim, Jung Hyun Lee, Jong-Eun Park, Jun Cho, Hyerim Yi, and V. Narry
Kim (2014). PKR is activated by cellular dsRNAs during mitosis and
acts as a mitotic regulator. Genes & Development 28: 1310-1322.
(http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/28/12/1310)
Yoosik
Kim, Jinah Yeo, Jung Hyun Lee, Jun Cho, Daekwan Seo, Jong-Seo Kim,
and V. Narry Kim (2014). Deletion of Human tarbp2 Reveals Cellular
MicroRNA Targets and Cell-Cycle Function of TRBP. Cell Reports
9:1061-1074.
(http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdf/S2211-1247%2814%2900822-5.pdf)
For
further information or to request media assistance, please contact:
Ms. Mijoo Sung, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National
University(+82-2-887-2343; mjsung@snu.ac.kr)
or Mr. Han Bin Oh, Overseas Public Relations Officer, IBS Public
Relations Team (+82-42-878-8182; ohanvin@ibs.re.kr)
About
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) The IBS was founded in 2011 by
the government of the Republic of Korea. With the sole purpose of
driving forward the development of basic science in Korea, IBS will
be comprised of a total of 50 research centers in all fields of
basic science, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, life
science, earth science and interdisciplinary science. IBS has
launched 21 research centers as of October 2014.
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