2023-12-29 20:45:39
A new study shows that chromatin and the factors that regulate it prevent the formation of DNA-RNA hybrids, a source of genomic instability associated with cancer. These hybrids block replication, leading to an increase in chromosome breaks and collisions between transcription and replication.
The study was carried out by a team led by Aleix Bayona-Feliu, from the Andalusian Center for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CABIMER), attached to the University of Seville, the Pablo de Olavide University and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). , in Spain.
The new research has specifically demonstrated that chromatin constitutes a first barrier to protect the integrity of the genome. This has been observed in an analysis of silencing of different chromatin remodeling factors in tumor cell cultures.
Through a comparative study of their data with databases of tumor cell genomes, the authors of the study have discovered that the genome sites enriched in DNA-RNA hybrids coincide with the places with the highest frequency of mutations found in cells of tumors. The work thus reveals for the first time a direct association between DNA-RNA hybrids and mutations associated with cancer, suggesting that they are a risk element.
Artistic recreation of DNA and cancer cell. (Illustration: Amazings/NCYT)
Aguilera’s laboratory is a pioneer in the study of the role of DNA-RNA hybrids in the origin of genetic instability, and this new work not only allows us to better understand the cellular control of hybrids and their regulation by epigenetic factors, but also suggests the possibility that levels of DNA-RNA hybrids in cells could be used as a potential indicator of cancer risk.
The work, published in the academic journal Nature Communications, is titled “The chromatin network helps prevent cancer-associated mutagenesis at transcription-replication conflicts.” (Source: University of Seville)
#Mutations #tumor #cells #DNARNA #hybrids