Presentation description

Riboswitches are well-characterized sites of direct RNA-metabolite interactions found primarily on an mRNA molecule's 5' and 3' UTR. Riboswitches regulate gene expression by causing or preventing the premature termination of transcription or obscuring or exposing the ribosomal binding site in early translation by forming secondary RNA structures in the presence of a metabolite. While hundreds of prokaryotic riboswitches have been identified, only one eukaryotic riboswitch has been found to exist across some fungal and plant species, but none have yet been validated in animal species. MIDAS, a metabolite-RNA expression screening method, identified some human gene candidates as potential riboswitches. Among these, COX7B (Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 7B) and SLC25a6 (a member of the SLC25 human mitochondrial carrier family) will be explored for their potential for containing riboswitches by a difference in gene expression in the presence of cAMP (COX7B) and flavins (SLC25a6). Given that the dysfunction of the SLC25 carrier family is reported to be increasingly associated with disease (Kunji et. al.), the presence of riboswitches in humans may present important pharmaceutical targets, and understanding their effects may help mediate disease.