Scientists Develop Gene-Activating Technique

MONDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists have developed a new laboratory technique that uses ribonucleic acid (RNA), a tiny chemical cousin of DNA, to switch on genes. This approach may help in the development of treatments for diseases in which prompting genes into activity could benefit patients.

This method also provides a new research tool to learn more about the role that genes play in human health, said scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

They were able to activate certain genes in cultured cells by using strands of RNA to stir up the mixture of proteins that surrounds chromosomal DNA, proteins that control whether genes are switched on or off.

The research was published online by Nature Chemical Biology and is expected to be published in an upcoming print issue of the journal.

The study findings are significant because they demonstrate the most effective and consistent method developed so far for prompting genes to make the proteins necessary for gene expression, said senior author Dr. David Corey, a professor of pharmacology.

There are many medical conditions in which increased gene expression would prove beneficial, said lead author Dr. Bethany Janowski, an assistant professor of pharmacology.

"In some disease states, it''s not that gene expression is completely turned off, but rather, the levels of expression are lower than they should be," which results in an inadequate amount of a particular protein in the body, Janowski said in a prepared statement.

"If we can bring the level (of gene expression) up a few notches, we might actually treat or cure the disease," Janowski said.

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The U.S. Institute of General Medical Sciences has more about genes.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, news release, Jan. 28, 2007

Last Updated: Jan. 29, 2007

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