The nuclear membrane has been thought to have one sole purpose, to protect the nuclear material and provide channels to allow molecules that are necessary to transport into and out of the nucleus. According to a team of scientists from USC, it plays a part in repairing DNA. In the nucleus there are two forms of DNA that are found. The first is the DNA that we known of that codes for everything, this form is called euchromatin. The second type of DNA that is found in the nucleus is refereed to some as junk DNA, but is actually called heterochromatin. This form is referred to as junk DNA because it has been mostly ignored. A team of scientists has found evidence that this form of DNA is dragged back to the nucleus for repairs. Heterochromatin, as defined by the scientists in the paper, are mostly composed of repeated DNA sequences. A graduate student on the team stated that "repeated sequences tend to recombine with each other during DNA repair, which would lead to chromosome aberrations as frequently observed in cancer cells". The team of scientists discovered that "breaks in heterochromatin are repaired after damaged sequences move away from the rest of the chromosome to the inner wall of the nuclear membrane". They then stated that this process was done away from other chromosomes in the membrane so that they are not tangled. As organisms age they become prone to developing cancer. This is because over time the nuclear membrane breaks down and and the repair process previously stated ceases. The team intends to study this process more to understand the mechanisms that drive the repair process. This discovery is important so that researchers can relate these findings to human cells to prevent the degradation of the membrane to the point where the process of repair continues to stop cancer from forming as we age.
here is the link for this article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151029185601.htm
It is very interesting to find out that this "junk" DNA is actually useful after all. The idea that finding a way to keep these fragments to keep repairing might be the key to lowering or even stopping cancer is a neat idea as well. Only thing is that I am sure there are more factors involved in the development of cancer cells than just this junk DNA.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time over 98% of DNA was deemed junk DNA because molecular biologists didn't understand the function it held. Like your article here, the more they're able to understand, the more they're realizing that junk DNA, or non-coding DNA does play a bigger role then recently thought. I read an article not too long ago about some research coming out of the University of Pennsylvania that junk DNA may play a key role in the development of new species in evolution because of the role junk DNA plays in the regulation of cellular processes. I think we call it junk DNA because we just don't understand how to decode to so say the language in which it is written, and until then it will keep remaining a mystery.
ReplyDelete"Junk" DNA is really a horrible term. I think this is just DNA that we don't understand its purpose yet. Knowing that the cell has a specific repair mechanism for this DNA just shows that it is more important than we think.
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