Brown University researchers recently
published the results of their work to develop a new ligase, which is an enzyme that
helps fuse broken strands of DNA and RNA, that functions at high temperatures.
“The focus of our group has always been in
the engineering of medical diagnostics and molecular therapies, particularly
dealing with RNA,” Brown professor Anubhav Tripathi, the
paper’s senior author, said. “In many recent studies, we engineered novel molecular
assays and platforms to rapidly detect viral infections and the presence of
viral mutations. While we design and build the microfluidic platforms and the
assays in-house, we always relied on off-the-shelf reagents to power these
assays. As our designs became more complex, we grew increasingly frustrated at
the lack of specialized enzymes, such as ligases.”
The new ligase, called KOD1Rnl, was
developed based on a microbe that lives near volcanic thermal vents. Researchers believe it will be useful for scientists working with RNA
sequencing and detection, as well as in mutation detection and other
bioengineering applications.
“This new ligase has all the properties we think
are desirable for manipulating RNA,” Brown graduate
student Lei Zhang, a lead author of the paper, which was published in RNA Biology, said. “We think this could be a useful tool to add to the biomedical
engineering toolbox.”
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