Mechanisms of RNA Sorting into Exosomes

传统上，科学家认为包含我们身份的遗传密码的物质，我们的基因，不在细胞之间共享。例如，这被认为是细胞、器官和有机体保持其身份的必要条件，这样你的心脏就不会变成胃。因此，当2008年左右发现细胞不仅将被称为RNA的遗传物质释放到体液中时，许多人都感到惊讶，而且这些遗传物质可以以完全功能的状态输送到其他细胞中，在这个过程中改变细胞的身份。使用我们目前的生物学和医学概念，很难理解细胞如何以及为什么会交换遗传物质。细胞之间的这种交换机制可能使它们能够以精确的方式进行远距离通信(就像动物的全球互联网一样)，以帮助彼此适应新的环境或保护自己免受感染。其他证据表明，当遗传物质不再需要时，它们会从细胞中释放出来，当它们来自试图入侵细胞的病毒时，或者遗传物质发生突变，可能会导致癌症。有证据表明，释放的遗传物质可能会被我们全身的细胞降解，这些细胞被称为吞噬细胞(或吞噬细胞)，它们很好地适应了清除进入人体的多种毒素和废物的能力。在这个项目中，我们将进行实验，以准确地了解哪些遗传物质是从细胞中释放出来的，以及它们是如何被选择释放的。这将使我们能够实现我们的长期目标，即在细胞间通讯或防御性降解的可能性中，理解为什么细胞会释放遗传物质。

Traditionally, scientists believed that materials containing the genetic code of our identity, our genes, were not shared between cells. This was believed to be a requirement for cells, organs and organisms to maintain their identity, for example, so your heart didn't become a stomach. Therefore, many people were astonished when around 2008 it was discovered that not only did cells release genetic materials, called RNA, into bodily fluids, but these genetic materials could then be delivered in a fully functional state into other cells, changing the cell's identity in the process. It is very difficult to understand how and why cells would exchange genetic materials using our current conceptions of biology and medicine. It is possible that this mechanism of exchange between cells allows them to communicate in precise ways at great distance (like the worldwide internet in animals) to help each other adapt to a new environment or defend themselves from infection. Other evidence suggests that genetic materials are released from cells to eliminate them when they are no longer needed, come from a virus trying to invade the cell, or are mutated and could cause cancer. Evidence suggests that the released genetic materials might then be degraded by cells throughout our body, called phagocytes (or eating cells) that are well-adapted to eliminate many kinds of toxins and waste that enter the body. In this project, we will perform experiments to understand exactly which genetic materials are released from cells and how they are selected, among all others, for release. This will allow us to reach our long-term goal of understanding, among the possibilities of intercellular communication or defensive degradation, why cells release genetic materials.