Biochemical Analysis of Non-Protein Coding RNA LINC00298 and Its Expression in Early Onset Alzheimer's.

Presenter(s)

Emma Olson, Ashley Jensen

Abstract or Description

Alzheimer’s is a terminal-neurodegenerative disease which causes neuronal loss in the brain. This disease affects 5.6 million people a year over the age of 65 and is the most common diagnosis among Dementia patients. Data meta-analysis of Alzheimer’s patients has found that specific genes, when expressed, may lead to the development of Alzheimer’s. One gene of interest is LINC00298 which is a non-protein coding RNA in the brain that is present in Early-Onset Alzheimer’s. Very little is known about the impact of this gene during development. Our research team’s focus is to biochemically and biophysically analyze LINC00298. Analysis of the structure of LINC00298 found to be composed primarily of stem-loops. The stabilizing effects of the stem-loops contributed to the gene’s high thermal stability. Working in collaboration with the School of Pharmacy at North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Center of Spectrometry and Proteomics. Our research was able to identify that the gene depends on Mg2+ using the electrostatic interactions to undergo significant structural changes upon binding. Additionally, using Mass Spectrometry allowed for an understanding in its interactions with enzyme metabolism as well as protein translation. This new information gives insight on the importance of the gene and will potentially assist in finding solutions for Alzheimer’s in the future.

Mentor

Dr. Rachel Hellmann Whitaker