Question

(b) Explain how the addition of a phosphate group to certain amino acids of Brec likely affects the tertiary structure and function of Brec. Explain how
the addition of a small RNA could prevent the activation of kinase D?

Answer 1

Answer:

Protein phosphorylation can activate/deactivate protein function, while small RNAs can be used for repressing translation of mRNAs through the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway

Explanation:

Protein phosphorylation is one of the most important posttranslational modifications (PTMs) that acts to activate, inhibit, or reversibly switch on/off protein function. Protein phosphorylation confers a reversible and versatile process that cells use to transmit signals and respond to environmental stimuli. This PTM is well known to modify the tertiary structure of the protein and thus activate/inhibit protein functions such as, for example, signaling pathways associated with protein interactions. In consequence, protein phosphorylation can be used by a cell to regulate Brec activity. On the other hand, small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as, for example, microRNAs (miRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), are regulatory molecules that bind by complementary base pairing to messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in order to repress translation and/or trigger mRNA degradation through the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. The RNAi pathway is widely used in molecular biology to silence genes of interest (for example, in this case, the gene that encodes for the kinase D protein).