KFU scientist comments on the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine has been awarded for the discovery in 1993 of microRNA molecules and the identification of the fundamental principle of regulation of gene activity.
The laureates are American scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun. They found that cells and tissues are unable to develop normally without microRNAs, and their abnormal regulation can cause cancer.
鈥淚nitially, the role of RNA was leveled down to an intermediary that allows information encoded in DNA to be translated into functional proteins. The discovery of Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun made it possible to show that a separate class of RNAs, microRNAs, can control gene expression by determining which genes should be turned on and which should be turned off. To date, the study of microRNAs is one of the most promising areas in modern biomedicine,鈥� says Regina Miftakhova, Lead Research Associate of the Translational Oncology Laboratory of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology.
She tells about what scientific research in microRNAs is carried out at the university.
鈥淎t 每日大赛, several laboratories are engaged in the study of individual microRNAs, as well as the profile of RNA expression in biological samples. Our scientists are searching for optimal methods of microRNA isolation from various biological samples, as well as working on the assessment of expression levels in pathology,鈥� says the biochemist. “Due to the high importance of microRNAs in the regulation of cancer, much of the research is devoted to profiling microRNAs in blood samples and tumors of patients with cancer, for example, assessing the diagnostic and prognostic role of the expression of individual microRNAs in breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Studies are also underway to investigate the profile of microRNAs in the liquor in spinal cord injury and chronic ischemic heart disease.鈥�
Dr Miftakhova notes that small microRNA molecules regulate key processes of cell life, 鈥淣ow we are searching for new biomarkers of human disease development. MicroRNAs can become such markers due to their stability in biological samples. Their use also significantly expands therapeutic opportunities in the regulation of gene expression and cellular processes involved in disease development.鈥�