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.
There is compelling evidence that in the distant past, our single-celled ancestors used RNA, a chemical cousin of DNA, for both genetic information storage and metabolism. This primordial “RNA world” would have needed an RNA enzyme able to replicate itself and other primordial “RNA genes”.
The structure of the actin-like protein ParM in different states has been revealed by Tanmay Bharat and Jan Löwe in collaboration with Garib Murshudov from the LMB and Carsten Sachse from the EMBL. Using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) they determined the structure of ParM to almost atomic resolution and revealed how this protein carries out the process of plasmid DNA segregation in growing bacterial cells.
In their latest research on the DNA replication machinery from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Ulla Lang in Meindert Lamers’ group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division and collaborators at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, have revealed the existence of a novel exonuclease that proofreads new DNA as it is synthesised. This newly discovered proofreader prevents mutations in the bacterium and could be a successful drug target.
The existence of an endogenous daily clock in humans is well known: it is what drives the 24-hour sleep/wake rhythm to match the daily cycle of night and day. That this biological circadian rhythm occurs in individual cells, and that they continue to ‘tick’ in a petri dish is now well-accepted scientifically, but the mechanism that allows cellular clocks to keep time remains poorly understood.
The deposition of misfolded proteins is a defining feature of many age-dependent human diseases, including the increasingly prevalent neurodegenerative diseases. Why this happens is unclear. Cells normally strive to ensure that proteins are correctly folded by using powerful and sophisticated mechanisms to maintain protein homeostasis under adverse conditions.
Many of our cells can engulf solid particles and liquid droplets to ingest (swallow) them. Phagocytes ingest invading bacteria and dead cells during infections in the same way that our single-celled distant ancestors engulfed food that they needed for growth. A core group of genes is found within these ancient organisms that is also important for controlling phagocytosis and cell growth in humans.