Dec 24, 2023
Location, location, location: Research reveals the hidden power of intracellular neighborhoods
Posted by Paul Battista in category: futurism
New findings published in Molecular Cell provide details about the hidden organization of the cytoplasm—the soup of liquid, organelles, proteins, and other molecules inside a cell. The research shows it makes a big difference where in that cellular broth, messenger RNA (mRNA) gets translated into proteins.
“You know the old real estate saying, ‘location, location, location.’ It turns out it applies to how proteins get made inside of cells, too,” says Dr. Mayr, a molecular and cell biologist at the Sloan Kettering Institute, a hub for basic and translational research within MSK. “If it’s translated over here, you get twice as much protein as if it’s translated over there.”
This first-of-its-kind study highlights the degree to which the cytoplasm is “beautifully organized” rather than being just a big jumble of stuff, she says.