Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Via Francesco Chiesa 5, Bellinzona CH-6500, Switzerland.
Immunol Lett. 2022 Jun;246:52-56. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2022.05.003. Epub 2022 May 17.
RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are essential effectors in defining and regulating gene expression, and as such their function underlies all cellular processes. Within the immune system in general, and in T lymphocytes in particular, RBPs have been shown to crucially modulate almost every aspect of T cell biology, including differentiation, inflammatory responses and effector functions. However, questions remain regarding the function of many RBPs that have been recently discovered, their regulation, and in general their role within gene regulatory networks that control immune responses. Here, I will focus on unconventional RBPs with an emerging role in T lymphocytes, including proteins with unusual or unknown mode of binding, and proteins displaying enzymatic or regulatory roles in addition to their RNA-binding feature. I will also discuss how in the future distinguishing RBP:mRNA interactions that are functional and biologically relevant from those that have only limited impact will be crucial to fully dissect the intricacies of RBP-mediated regulation in the immune system.
RNA 结合蛋白（RBPs）是定义和调节基因表达的重要效应因子，因此它们的功能是所有细胞过程的基础。一般来说，在免疫系统中，特别是在 T 淋巴细胞中，已经证明 RBPs 可以关键地调节 T 细胞生物学的几乎所有方面，包括分化、炎症反应和效应功能。然而，关于最近发现的许多 RBPs 的功能、它们的调节以及它们在控制免疫反应的基因调控网络中的一般作用，仍存在一些问题。在这里，我将重点介绍在 T 淋巴细胞中具有新兴作用的非传统 RBPs，包括具有不寻常或未知结合模式的蛋白质，以及除了 RNA 结合特性之外还具有酶或调节作用的蛋白质。我还将讨论如何在未来区分具有功能和生物学相关性的 RBP:mRNA 相互作用与那些只有有限影响的相互作用，这对于充分剖析免疫 系统中 RBP 介导的调节的复杂性至关重要。
