The recent realization that researchers of Ohio State University have made about cells being able to mend their mistakes in their protein-making process instead of the just one. This second chance, as researchers describe can be considered as a “proofreading” phase where the cell analyses and re-assesses itself.
"We're describing a pretty simple process where the cell says, 'I think I'll have one more look at that,'" said Michael Ibba, senior author of the study and an associate professor of microbiology at Ohio State. "It looks at the building blocks and checks that they're right before it makes the protein."
It’s known that proteins play an essential role in the lives of living organisms, their essentiality shown through processes in the cell such as metabolism. However, during protein production, there is always the possibility of mistakes or errors occurring. So naturally learning ways to prevent or avoid mistakes during this process is the favourable outcome in order to prevent various harmful conditions that can result due to mutations or the cell dying.
The rise of the second step shows the magnificence of the fields of science, highlighting the possibilities that it gives to drug-makers, such as new antibiotics that can assist and benefit society. Researchers have said that drugs made from this discovery could be manipulated and designed to interfere with enzymes that make, find and repair the mistakes during production, resulting in a breakthrough that would subdue bacterial growth.
ABOVE: BLOOD CELLS
The studies held by Michael Ibba have been undergone for years, focusing on particular enzymes such as phenylalanyl-tRNA, which an enzyme that selects an amino acid to be strung together into a molecule to make a protein. "What we do is try to find out where that error rate number comes from," said Ibba, also an investigator in Ohio State's Biochemistry Program and its Center for RNA Biology. "Understanding where the mistakes come from means you can try to predict conditions that will either raise or lower the frequency of mistakes."
In this particular study, the enzyme was known to be responsible for selecting amino acids that would attach to an adapter to ensure proper the genetic code is deciphered properly. The results found that the enzyme that makes the mistake also cleaned up after itself using a process that eliminated the incorrect amino acid and replacing it with the correct functional one.
"The enzyme is two catalysts, one that can make the mistake and one that can correct the mistake. It can let the mistake go and grab it back. Nothing tells it to do this. It figures it out on its own," Ibba said.
With breakthroughs and discoveries such as that made by Ibba and his team, it shows that there is still a vast amount to learn about areas in science. This was clarified when it was found that enzymes do not act alone since they interact with other enzymes in the cell which affect their behaviour.
Original/Full Article
http://www.fi.edu/learn/heart/blood/images/large_white-cells.jpg
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=180995591
