RNA-associated introns guide nerve-cell channel production

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Image of a neuron. Dendrites (highlighted by arrows) which branch from the cell body of the neuron detect the electrical and chemical signals transmitted to the neuron by the axons of other neurons. Credit: Kevin Miyashiro and James Eberwine PhD Univ ...
Image of a neuron. Dendrites (highlighted by arrows), which branch from the cell body of the neuron, detect the electrical and chemical signals transmitted to the neuron by the axons of other neurons. Credit: Kevin Miyashiro and James Eberwine, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that introns, or junk DNA to some, associated with RNA are an important molecular guide to making nerve-cell electrical channels. Senior author James Eberwine, PhD, Elmer Bobst Professor of Pharmacology, and lead authors Kevin Miyashiro, and Thomas J. Bell, PhD, both in Eberwine’s lab, report their findings in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


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