{"id":633787,"date":"2026-09-23T19:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/633787\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:52:09","slug":"researchers-reveal-snapshots-of-a-key-molecular-machine-in-tropical-parasites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/633787\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers reveal snapshots of a key molecular machine in tropical parasites"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"Three-dimensional<\/p>\n

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image:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration of the three-dimensional structure of the trans-spliceosome, the molecular machine responsible for a key stage in mRNA maturation in trypanosomatids.<\/p>\n

view more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit: Th\u00e9o Nadenoen<\/p>\n

A study conducted between the University of Li\u00e8ge<\/a> and Rockefeller University<\/a> reveals, with near-atomic precision, the three-dimensional structure and function of a gigantic molecular machine essential to the survival of trypanosomatid parasites, which cause serious diseases in humans, animals and plants. This discovery sheds light on a biological mechanism that has remained a mystery for nearly forty years and reveals several features specific to these organisms.<\/p>\n

Trypanosomatids are parasites responsible for numerous diseases affecting humans, animals and plants. In humans, they cause tropical diseases such as leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness and Chagas\u2019 disease, which affect several million people worldwide. Treatments exist, but they remain limited by their efficacy, toxicity or the development of resistance. And this problem extends beyond human health. Other trypanosomatids infect livestock, causing major economic losses, while some species infect crops and significantly reduce agricultural yields.<\/p>\n

What makes these parasites so unusual? In our cells, genetic information is first copied into RNA, a kind of draft that must be processed before it can serve as instructions for making proteins. One of the steps in this maturation process is RNA splicing, during which certain sequences, known as introns, are cut out and removed. \u201cTrypanosomatids use a very specific form of this process, known as Spliced Leader (SL) RNA trans-splicing,\u201d explains Arnaud Vanden Broeck<\/a>, a biologist heading the Laboratory of RNA Structural Biology and Biochemistry<\/a> at the University of Li\u00e8ge. \u201cIn these organisms, conventional intron splicing is extremely rare. Instead, virtually all of their messenger RNAs receive the same short RNA sequence, known as the SL RNA, at their 5\u2019 end. This step is essential for the maturation of their RNAs and therefore for the functioning of their cells.\u201d Two factors make this mechanism particularly interesting: it is absolutely essential for the parasite\u2019s survival, and it does not exist in this form in humans. This is precisely what makes it a promising target for new treatments, as blocking this step could neutralise the parasite without disrupting our own cells.<\/p>\n

A mechanism finally observed in action<\/p>\n

The machine responsible for this process, known as the trans-spliceosome, is a true molecular factory. Although it was discovered nearly forty years ago, how it works has remained largely mysterious. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know precisely how its various components were organised or how they worked together to carry out this reaction,\u201d the researcher continues. \u201cTo obtain high-resolution snapshots of this machine in action, we used cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a technique that involves freezing molecules very rapidly and then reconstructing their three-dimensional structure from hundreds of thousands of images.\u201d Using this method, the scientists were able to capture two successive stages in the machine\u2019s activity: the moment when the SL RNA is attached to the messenger RNA, and the state immediately afterwards, once this reaction is complete.<\/p>\n

These structures reveal, with unprecedented precision, the organisation of the machine\u2019s core, the way in which the various RNAs are positioned during the reaction, and the role of several proteins unique to trypanosomatids and absent in humans. \u201cDespite some similarities with the splicing machinery found in our own cells, the trans-spliceosome has numerous distinctive adaptations.\u201d These findings show how this very ancient molecular machine has been profoundly remodelled to perform a different function, thereby shedding light on the evolutionary history of such machinery in eukaryotic organisms.<\/p>\n

By revealing the architecture of the trans-spliceosome at near-atomic resolution, this study achieves a goal that the scientific community has been pursuing for decades. \u201cBeyond advancing our fundamental understanding of the evolution of life, our study provides a concrete basis for designing molecules capable of specifically disrupting this machinery in parasites, whilst sparing human cells,\u201d concludes Arnaud Vanden Broeck. An encouraging avenue of research in the face of diseases that remain difficult to treat.<\/p>\n

Journal<\/p>\n

Nature Communications<\/p>\n

Article Title<\/p>\n

Structural basis of step II spliced leader RNA trans-splicing in trypanosomatid parasites<\/p>\n

Article Publication Date<\/p>\n

23-Sep-2026<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image:\u00a0 Illustration of the three-dimensional structure of the trans-spliceosome, the molecular machine responsible for a key stage in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[61,60,82],"class_list":["post-633787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}