Two evolutionary strategies allow the antiviral protein MxA to evolve simultaneous super-restriction against multiple viruses.

Protein-RNA interactions govern nearly every aspect of RNA metabolism and are frequently dysregulated in disease. While individual protein residues and RNA nucleotides critical for these interactions ...

Using high-throughput functional profiling, how disordered regions control mRNA stability and translation is explored.

The stability and function of biomolecules are directly influenced by their myriad interactions with water1–16. In this study, we investigated water through cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) on a highly solvated molecule, the Tetrahymena ribozyme, determined at 2.2 and 2.3 Å resolutions. By employing segmentation-guided water and ion modeling (SWIM)17,18, an approach combining resolvability and chemical parameters, we automatically modeled and cross-validated water molecules and Mg2+ ions in the ribozyme core, revealing the extensive involvement of water in mediating RNA non-canonical interactions. Unexpectedly, in regions where SWIM does not model ordered water, we observed highly similar densities in both cryo-EM maps. In many of these regions, the cryo-EM densities superimpose with complex water networks predicted by molecular dynamics (MD), supporting their assignment as water and suggesting a biophysical explanation for their elusiveness to conventional atomic coordinate mod

Subcellular RNA organization can affect critical cellular functions. However, our understanding of RNA microenvironments, particularly biomolecular condensates, remains limited, largely due to a lack ...

Soles et al. demonstrate that the combination of a 5′ splice site and a poly(A) junction constitutes a nuclear RNA degradation code that targets RNAs for degradation by the PAXT adaptor and the RNA ex...

Alphaviruses optimize viral polymerase production and polyprotein processing at distinct temperatures via a premature stop codon.

Transcription inhibitors also disrupt nuclear export. Here, Williams et al. reveal that mRNA export factors sense transcription inhibition and adapt by storing mature export-competent mRNA in nuclear speckles. This enables rapid release when transcription resumes and ensures retention of cellular identity and viability during a transient global transcription insult.

Upon intramuscular administration, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are primarily taken up by macrophages, in which the cellular machinery extends their poly(A) tails, thereby increasing mRNA stability and tran...

A study by researchers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center published in Nature revises the standard story about transcription factors binding close to the genes they regulate. That is true only for a small su...

Abstract. Initiation of transcription requires the formation of the “open” promoter complex (RPo). For this, the σ subunit of bacterial RNA polymerase (RNA

Growing up, Dr. Melody Campbell, 38, was part of the Campbell Quartet.

Kuzuoglu-Ozturk et al. showcase a therapeutic approach, “translatome therapy,” to combat lethal prostate cancer. Zotatifin, a clinical molecule, targets the RNA-helicase eIF4A. Zotatifin decreases the...

A near-complete survey of transcription factor activities in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals that most transcription factors have both activator and repressor activities and limited overlap between t...

A monthly journal publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed research on all topics related to RNA and its metabolism in all organisms