“…scientists have recently discovered small open reading frames (smORFs) that can be translated from RNA to small peptides involved in DNA repair, muscle formation, and genetic regulation,” explains computational biologist Sonia Chotani, first author of the book. study..
Scientists are trying to identify smORFs and the small peptides they encode, as defects in these smORFs can cause disease. However, currently available approaches are very limited.
“Most of the available datasets do not provide enough detail to identify smORFs in RNA,” Chotani adds. “Most of the data also comes from analyzing immortalized human cells that proliferate — sometimes over decades — to study cell physiology, function and disease. However, these cell lines don’t always accurately reflect human physiology.”
In a publication in the journal Molecular Cell, Chotani and colleagues describe a technique they developed to solve these problems. They tested currently available ribosomal profiling datasets for short RNA sequences with periodic tribase regions spanning more than 60 percent of the RNA length.
They then ran their own RNA sequencing and ribosome profiling to create a pooled data source for six cell types and five tissue types, such as the heart and brain, from hundreds of patients.
Analysis of this data revealed almost 8,000 smORFs. Interestingly, they were highly specific for the tissues in which they were found, meaning that these smORFs could perform a function specific to their environment. The team also identified 603 microproteins encoded by some of these smORFs.
Source: Ferra
