The finding:
Tomoshige Kino from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and colleagues were looking for regulators of the human glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The GR binds glucocorticoid in the cytoplasm and then travels to the nucleus to bind DNA, turning on genes that regulate metabolism and the stress response. But Kino observed that an RNA molecule called growth arrest–specific 5 (Gas5) was binding the GR before it could reach the genome. The finding suggested that Gas5 controls the receptor’s activity by mimicking the DNA sequence that the receptor normally binds to, and blocking GR-controlled gene transcription. The RNA may play a role in slowing metabolism when cells are starved.
The surprise: “RNA molecules are full of tricks,” said F1000 Faculty Member Jim Maher, ...
