How Poly A Polymerase Enhances Mrna Stability For Research

This messenger RNA (mRNA) plays a major role in protein synthesis by acting as the template used by ribosomes to make proteins. Owing to its gene therapy, vaccine development, and personalized medicine capability, its application in biomedical research has picked momentum. Nevertheless, mRNA stabilization remains an obstacle since it has the capability of degrading within a short period. It is in this context that Poly A polymerase assists in improving mRNA stability for use in experimentation.

What is Poly A Polymerase?

Poly(adenylic acid) polymerase, commonly known as Poly A Polymerase (PAP), is an enzyme that attaches adenosine nucleotides (AMP) to the 3' end of single-stranded RNA. This process, more specifically the terminal addition of polyalanine sequences, is referred to as polyadenylation. A long stretch of poly(A) is added at the 3' terminal of the RNA. Furthermore, the poly(A) tail prevents the degradation of RNA and acts as a Control Signal for a few processes including but not limited to the commencement of protein synthesis and the exit of RNA from a cell’s nucleus.

Poly A Polymerase as a Factor Contributing to the Stabilization of mRNA

Among the various activities of Poly A Polymerase, the most important in relation to mRNA stability enhancement is the addition of a poly(A) tail at the 3′ end of the RNA molecule. This tail acts to protect the mRNA from being degraded by directional exoribonucleases that usually digest RNA molecules from their 3’ ends. Moreover, the polyadenylation process circumvents the establishment of secondary structures that could promote the storming and degradation of the m RNAs. By enhancing the life span of m RNA, Poly A Polymerase helps in the effective translation of the underlying genetic material into respective proteins critical for a range of cellular activities.

Poly A Polymerase in Research Applications

Currently, Poly A Polymerase has a wide scope in biomedical research including gene medicines and vaccines. To illustrate, in the gene therapy approach, Poly A Polymerase is utilized to append a polyadenylation sequence after a synthetic m RNA that encodes a protein of interest for therapeutic interventions. In such cases, some viral or non-viral vectors are used to introduce the engineered mRNA into the patients to allow for the organism to make the desired protein. In the same way, in vaccine applications, Poly A Polymerase stabilizes m RNA templates for the preparation of specific antigenic proteins for a vaccine-induced immune response to target pathogens.

In a nutshell, Poly A Polymerase is responsible for the addition of poly(A) tail to 3′ end of RNA molecules which helps in increasing the mRNA stability... This improved stability enhances the level of translation of the mRNA into proteins towards different biological functions. As such, with further developments and improvements in current and new uses, Poly A Polymerase will be more beneficial to the field of biomedical sciences.