Researchers Capture Atomic Structure of Parasite RNA Machine

Using cryo-EM, researchers at the University of Liège and Rockefeller University visualized two stages of the trans-spliceosome, the RNA-processing machinery that trypanosomatid parasites rely on to survive. The structures reveal parasite-specific components absent in humans, offering a starting point for selective drugs against sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease and leishmaniasis.

• Cryo-EM yielded two near-atomic structures of the trans-spliceosome in action
• Trypanosomatids rely on SL RNA trans-splicing instead of conventional intron splicing
• The structures show proteins found in parasites but absent from humans
• Findings could guide drugs against leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness