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Technology and Health News > Monday, November-03-2008

Fatal rewind



An enzyme that can rewind the DNA at points where the two propellers should remain separate, even fatal, causing disturbances.

The cause of some serious diseases, such as the rare immune-dysplasia of bone Schimke is a protein able to settle the two propellers of DNA at points in which they should remain separate and thus induce the expression of genes that would otherwise be idle.

Under normal circumstances the DNA presents a series of "bubbles", namely the segments in which there is space between them and raggomitolate. The unusual alignment of the two parallel strips, led by newly discovered protein, called Harp (HEPA-related protein), reactivates the expression of genes in these traits, which may in this way to start even occurrence of very serious diseases.

The enzyme is and was discovered by James Kadonaga and Timur Yusufzai, two biologists at the University of San Diego (California) authors whose research results were published in Science. Just as a zip, the enzyme flows on the tape of DNA tangles the lines and welding to the two separate entities, thereby according the traits of nucleic acid that ordinarily are designed to remain inactive. Exactly the opposite of what another enzyme, the "elicasi", which has the role to unwind the DNA during replication of the molecule, being essential for life.

The protein discovery is only the first of an entire class of enzymes candidates to be the basis of occurrence of disorders characterized by cardiac or kidney malfunction, with even fatal effects on children.



According to scientists, the identification of other similar enzymes could reveal the mechanisms of these serious diseases. "There are few enzymes that can alter the structure of DNA," says Kadonaga, and we discovered we have a whole group. "

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