In a positive study, a team of scientists has come one step closer to understanding why some people become very ill or die of a common bacterium that leaves the most harmless people.
In a study published in the Lancet Microbe, the researchers linked RNA mutations within the bacterium Neisseria meningitides to invasive meningococcal disease, marking the first time non-coding RNA in a bacterium has been linked to disease progression.
The researchers have also designed and tested a PCR test that detects these mutations.
“We have found that non-coding RNA mutations within the N. meningitidis bacterium are almost twice as likely to be associated with severe meningococcal disease, a rare but serious disease that can lead to death. , ”Says Edmund Loh, associate author, and assistant professor. at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet. “This is also the first time that non-coding RNA in a bacterium has been linked to the development of disease in humans. ”
N. meningitidis is a bacterium commonly found in the nose of 10 to 15 percent of the human population. In general, bacteria do not cause any infection. However, when it does, people can become very ill quickly and die within a few hours if left untreated.
The research work began in 2017 after a strain of the bacterium N. meningitidis was isolated from a Swedish teenager who developed meningococcal meningitis. When compared to another species of the same bacterium isolated from an asymptomatic individual, the researchers found a mutation in a non-coding regulatory RNA molecule, called RNA thermosensor, or RNAT, within the strain from the teenager. who died.
This discovery inspired the researchers to go on a trip to collect and study more than 7,000 RNAT strains of N. meningitidis from across Europe. In total, the researchers found five new variants of RNAT that may be linked to illness, namely that they were more likely to appear in individuals who had become ill from the bacterium.
These variables had common symptoms in that they produced larger and larger capsules that insulated the bacterium and thus helped to bypass the body’s immune system.
“This is the first time we have been able to link the impact of RNAT to the progression of meningitis,” said the paper’s first author Jens Karlsson, a PhD student at the same department. “This supports further research on this and other non-coding RNAs involved in the development of bacterial infections.”
As part of the study, the researchers also developed a rapid PCR test that is able to differentiate these RNAT mutations.
“In the future, this PCR test could be accompanied by a simple nasal swab at a clinic, and in doing so, enable rapid identification of these mutations, and their subsequent treatment, ”Concluded Edmund Loh. The study was funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council.
RNAs Information: -RNAs (ribonucleic acids) are molecules that perform various functions within the cells. There are many types of RNA, for example, RNAs that carry protein coding messages from DNA and RNAs that regulate the expression of different genes.
-Now zero-coding RNAs of molecules that are not translated into proteins. It is believed that there are thousands of them in the human genome, many of which are not understood. Some have been linked to the development of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.
-Nod coding of RNAs in bacteria helps regulate several psychological processes. For example, the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR / Cas9 gene editing mechanism is partly the result of the discovery of the noncoding RNA molecule, tracrRNA, which helps disarm viruses by tuning their DNA.
In this study, the researchers bind non-coding RNA molecule, thermosensor RNA, or RNAT, in the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis to the progression of meningococcal invasive disease. This is the first time that non-coding RNA molecules in a bacterium have been linked to disease progression in humans.
(This story was published from a wire group group without text modification.)
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