Targeting RNA-Binding Proteins

An RNA-binding protein fused with the catalytic domain of an RNA-editing enzyme makes for easier identification of the binding protein's target—a boon for studying gene expression and cellular functions in small amounts of material.

Written byRuth Williams

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TRIBE method for identifying RNAs that interact with ribosome-binding proteins (RBPs) fuses an RBP of interest to the catalytic domain (CD) of an RNA-editing enzyme. When the RBP-CD fusion protein binds to the RBP’s specific RNA targets, the CD converts adenine nucleotides to inosine nucleotides. Extraction and RNA sequencing thus reveals those RNAs with altered sequences.

© GEORGE RETSECKRNA Tagging fuses an RBP of interest to an enzyme that attaches chains of uridines (U) to the ends of the RBP’s target RNAs. The poly-U tails are then used to identify targets during RNA sequencing. © GEORGE RETSECK

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Meet the Author

Ruth Williams
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Ruth is a freelance journalist. Before freelancing, Ruth was a news editor for the Journal of Cell Biology in New York and an assistant editor for Nature Reviews Neuroscience in London. Prior to that, she was a bona fide pipette-wielding, test tube–shaking, lab coat–shirking research scientist. She has a PhD in genetics from King’s College London, and was a postdoc in stem cell biology at Imperial College London. Today she lives and writes in Connecticut.
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