在整个动物界中，核糖体（ribosome）作为蛋白质合成的分子工厂，其设计几乎是通用的，但章鱼却是一个显著的例外。研究人员发现，章鱼蛋白质合成机制中的一条核心RNA链，在每一种组织中都在完全相同的位置被切成两半。这一发现最初大约在五年前意外出现，挑战了长期以来认为核糖体RNA在物种间几乎不发生变化的假设。实验室通常将这些RNA链的大小作为样品品质的检测标准——错误的大小通常意味著样品已经降解。（关键数字： five years）
更为引人注目的是，这种断裂的核糖体在读取遗传密码时，其误读率远低于包括人类在内的其他动物所拥有的完整版本。这一特性可能对章鱼的神经细胞起到保护作用，使其免受错误蛋白质的损害。这项发现表明，核糖体结构的这种独特修饰可能在维持神经系统功能精确性方面具有重要的生物学意义。
这项研究由Harvard University分子与细胞生物学教授Nicholas Bellono领导，并与Harvard Medical School及Dana-Farber Cancer Institute的Amy Lee合作完成。Amy Lee的实验室专门研究细胞如何将遗传密码转化为蛋白质，她表示，长期以来的假设一直认为核糖体的这一部分不会发生太大变化，而这正是令她感到惊讶之处。这一发现揭示了章鱼在分子层面上的独特演化路径，为理解蛋白质合成机制的多样性开辟了新的方向。
Across the animal kingdom, the ribosome serves as a universal molecular factory for protein synthesis, yet the octopus stands out as a remarkable exception. Researchers found that a central RNA strand in the octopus's protein-building machinery is cleaved into two pieces at the exact same position in every tissue type. This discovery, which first emerged by accident approximately five years ago, challenges the long-held assumption that ribosomal RNA undergoes minimal variation between species. Laboratories routinely use the size of these RNA strands as a sample quality check, where an incorrect size typically indicates sample degradation.
What is even more striking is that this split ribosome misreads genetic code at a significantly lower rate than the intact version found in other animals, including humans. This characteristic may serve a protective function for octopus nerve cells by shielding them from faulty proteins. The finding suggests that this unique structural modification of the ribosome could hold important biological significance in maintaining the precision of nervous system function.
The research was led by Nicholas Bellono, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, in collaboration with Amy Lee of Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Lee, whose laboratory focuses on how cells translate genetic code into protein, noted that the prevailing assumption had always been that this component does not change much, and that was precisely what surprised her. This discovery reveals a unique evolutionary trajectory in octopuses at the molecular level and opens new avenues for understanding the diversity of protein synthesis mechanisms.