During embryonic development and aging, the cells in our body change dramatically over time. These changes also happen in diseases such as inflammation and cancer. Tracking these changes over time without damaging the cells under study would provide insights into many biomedical processes.
RNA molecules can offer precise clues about the activities inside the cells. However, the conventional technologies used to survey RNA kill the cells since they are broken for collecting and analyzing all the molecules inside. This means that experts can only get a glimpse of the state of the cell the instant before it dies rather than watching it develop and change over time.
Reading and Writing the RNA
The process of "reading" the RNA in a cell is useful for studying biological processes. On the other hand, "writing" the RNA within a cell is a powerful tool that influences cellular behavior and the treatment of diseases.
For instance, several COVID-19 vaccines deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) into a cell and produce antibodies against the virus. For this reason, RNA can be a valuable means of addressing diverse diseases, but delivering it to the right cells has been challenging.
Currently, mRNA vaccines work by delivering mRNA that encodes for fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and prompting the production of antibodies. This means that mRNA delivery could enable a range of various types of medicines aside from vaccines. Experts must ensure the RNA is delivered to the relevant cell types.
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New RNA Export System
At the California Institute of Technology, a team of researchers has developed a single system that can address both the "reading" and "writing" RNA challenges. Since this technology allows the experts to study the RNA in cells over time without destroying them, it provides a new way to follow multiple cellular processes from embryonic development to cancer.
The programming cells can deliver RNA to other cells in this same system. This opens up the possibilities of organizing cellular behaviors in specific ways and allowing the development of new therapeutic methods.
According to the study's first author, Felix Horns, RNA plays a crucial role in instructing the cell what to do—measuring the RNA that a cell expresses will enable the experts to read what it is doing. Researchers can also place instructions into a cell and program what it does by delivering mRNA, as we have all seen in the previous years during the development of RNA vaccines.
The RNA export system developed by the Caltech team is dubbed COURIER (Controlled Output and Uptake of RNA for Interrogation, Expression, and Regulation). It does not only enable RNA export from cells, but it can also address the two independent challenges of readout and control. Using this system, scientists can genetically modify a cell to package some of its RNA in self-assembling protein containers and secrete it in a vesicle.
In principle, living cells can serve as programmable mRNA delivery vehicles that transport therapeutic mRNA to the right cells in the right locations in the body. This can be achieved by exporting specific mRNA in a format that other cells can accept and express. This is what the COURIER system provides. It was designed to enable one cell to produce mRNA and enclose it in particles that bring it to other cells, which will then express it.
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