MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
One of the world's leading research institutes, our scientists are working to advance understanding of biological processes at the molecular level - providing the knowledge needed to solve key problems in human health.
Much of the communication in cells is dependent on the presence of cell-surface receptors that detect signals in the form of messenger molecules called ligands. One large family of receptors are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). This family includes a number of important drug targets, so understanding their structure and function are important. Their name derives from the fact that the receptor must couple with a G protein in order to function.
We are regularly reminded that a balanced diet is key to staying healthy and preventing disease. What is less well known is that the time at which we eat may also be an essential to long-term health.
Central to this are circadian rhythms – commonly referred to as ‘body clocks’. These are endogenous daily rhythms that occur in every cell of the body; affecting a wide range of physiological processes, from when we sleep, to hormone levels, to how quickly we metabolise drugs.
DNA and RNA both have a highly negatively charged backbone and it was widely believed that such a charged structure is essential for their function as information storage molecules. Philipp Holliger’s group, in the LMB’s PNAC Division, in collaboration with researchers at NIH in the USA and at IRB in Barcelona, have challenged this conjecture by producing a DNA-like genetic polymer that is both uncharged and can store and transfer genetic information.
The process of reading the genetic code of DNA to produce proteins involves an intermediate molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA). Initially mRNA contains sequences that won’t form part of the new protein, termed introns, as well as protein-coding sequences known as exons. Removal of introns and joining together of exons is called splicing and is performed by the spliceosome, a large molecular machine in eukaryotes that plays an essential role in the control of gene expression.
Life is based around a complex system of information storage in DNA and conversion of that information into the RNA and proteins that perform the functions to allow our cells and us to survive. Understanding the origin of life requires identification of plausible mechanisms by which the chemical building blocks of this system might have arisen on early Earth.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated blows to the head, particularly in relation to contact sports, such as American football and boxing. Understanding of the disease is limited and there is no available treatment. Definitive diagnosis currently depends on examination of the brain after death.