UCLA Study Uncovers Key New Insights Into How Cells Are Wired to Survive Radiation Therapy
Monday, March 21, 2016 - 02:30
in Biology & Nature
A UCLA-led study has for the first time shown that microRNAs, specifically the microRNA known as miR-34, can sit silently in an inactive state in a cell waiting for a signal to turn it on. The discovery turns on its head the long-held notion that a microRNA when made is always already activated and ready to work, and shows for the first time that microRNAs can be controlled in a way similar to proteins, waiting for stress signals to turn them on.