Breaker Laboratory Discovers Natural Roles for Lithium in Mammals

Researchers in the Breaker Lab have reported the discovery of RNA ‘aptamers’ that bind lithium in mammals, providing new evidence that RNA molecules may play a previously unrecognized role in sensing and responding to lithium in human cells. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, builds on the laboratory’s earlier discovery of bacterial riboswitches that selectively sense lithium ions and regulate genes involved in cation transport. The new work extends this line of investigation into mammalian biology.