Structural and functional analysis of SR proteins

我们细胞中的基因包含产生蛋白质的信息，蛋白质为我们的细胞提供构建模块，并调节我们身体细胞的功能。为了制造蛋白质，首先复制基因以产生信使RNA，信使RNA反过来携带制造蛋白质的信息。信使RNA的不同部分可以在用于制造蛋白质之前被切断，这导致从相同的起始信使RNA产生不同的蛋白质。这意味着，尽管人类有大约25，000个基因，但它们可以产生比这更多的蛋白质。由信使RNA产生的不同蛋白质在我们的细胞中可以具有完全不同的功能。在这个项目中，我们将研究出细胞中一些重要蛋白质的分子结构，这些蛋白质被称为SR蛋白，它们调节信使RNA的哪些部分被切断。SR蛋白还帮助信使RNA从细胞核移动到细胞质，在那里mRNA被用来制造蛋白质。有了这些分子结构，我们将能够理解这些蛋白质如何识别信使RNA的碱基以在其中产生特定的切口，以及它们如何识别细胞中帮助信使RNA离开细胞核的其他蛋白质。

The genes in our cells contain the information to produce proteins, which provide the building blocks for our cells and regulate how the cells of our body function. To make a protein, a gene is first copied to produce messenger RNA, which in turns carries the information to make a protein. Different parts of a messenger RNA can be chopped out before it is used to make a protein, which leads to the production of different proteins from the same starting messenger RNA. This means that although humans have around 25,000 genes they can produce many more proteins than this. The different proteins produced from a messenger RNA can have quite different functions in our cells. In this project we are going to work out the molecular structures of some of the important proteins in the cell, known as SR proteins, that regulate which parts of a messenger RNA are chopped out. SR proteins also help the messenger RNA to move from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of a cell, where the mRNA is used to make protein. With these molecular structures we will be able understand how these proteins recognise the bases of messenger RNA to generate specific chops in it and how they recognise other proteins in the cell which help the messenger RNA to leave the nucleus.