上海科学家研究发现RNA重要功能 为治疗系统性红斑狼疮提供新思路 - 2019年04月26日

Local scientists say they have found a “regulator” in the immune system which could lead to new treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus, a disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.

Chen Lingling and her research team at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that circular RNAs, biological molecules used in the coding of genes, regulate an enzyme (PKR) that can trigger a response to viral infections.

RNAs restrict PKR activity, but when cells are attacked by a virus, circular RNAs are largely eliminated, allowing PKR to fight the virus.