Location function and structural properties of the Nhm1 nuclear decapping enzyme in fission yeast

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The information contained in the genes of living cells has to be converted into cellular components that form structures and enable biochemical reactions to take place. This process is called gene expression and it is vital to all life. Gene expression comprises two main steps, called transcription and translation. In transcription, the information in the DNA sequences of the genes is converted into equivalent sequences in so-called messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules. In translation, the mRNA molecules are 'read' by a large molecular structure called the ribosome, which uses the information to dictate the synthesis of proteins. Each cell has to synthesize and break down its mRNA molecules, because this continuous turnover allows the cell to adapt its patterns of gene expression more rapidly to changes in the demand for particular proteins which are needed under certain growth conditions. Our work will improve understanding of an important enzyme that is involved in the cellular metabolism of such RNA molecules. We intend to use methods of structural biology, biochemistry and microscopy to work out where in the cell this enzyme works, how it chooses the RNA molecules it cleaves on the basis of their length, and how its structure enables it to work efficiently as an enzyme.