The coordinated control of cell proliferation is crucial during tissue growth in order to specify the size and shape of the adult organism. Control of cell proliferation is also required during tissue regeneration and wound healing. This regulation is important as lack of communication between cells to control proliferation may lead to tissue overgrowth or cancer. The highly conserved 3'-5' exoribonuclease Dis3L2 is a new player in the co-ordinated control of cell proliferation. Dis3L2 is a cytoplasmic member of the RNase II/RNB family of 3’-5’ exoribonucleases which is conserved from bacteria through to humans. It has been related with mutations observed in the human overgrowth disorders Perlman syndrome and Wilms’ tumour of the kidney. Loss of Dis3L2 results in the upregulation of a conserved growth factor named Imaginal Disc Growth Factor 2 (Idgf2). Idgf2 is a member of the conserved chitinase-like protein (CLP) family including CHI3L1/YKL-40 and CHI3L2/YKL-39 which are implicated in inflammatory diseases and a variety of cancers including colon and non-small cell lung cancer. Here you can see a recent cryoEM structure of human Dis3L2 in complex with a synthetic RNA (PDB code: 8E28)

#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #Dis3L2 ... #nuclease ... #overgrowth ... #regulation... #cryoem

Structure rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint