Exon junction complex
Okay kiddo, so you know that our body is made up of really really tiny things called cells. And inside these cells, there are even tinier things called genes that tell our body what to do. A gene is like a set of instructions or a recipe that tells the body how to make something called a protein.
Now, sometimes these instructions or recipes have parts that are not needed to make the protein, like how sometimes you have to peel a banana to eat it even though the peel isn't actually part of the fruit. These extra parts of the recipe are called "introns".
So when a cell wants to make a protein, it first has to make a copy of the gene called "messenger RNA" (mRNA), which is like a copy of the recipe that it can actually use. But since the mRNA copy has the extra parts that are not needed, the cell has to cut them out, sort of like how you might cut off the ends of a bread loaf that are crusty and not good to eat.
After the cell cuts out these extra parts and keeps only the parts that are needed, it sticks the remaining parts together to make a complete recipe. But the problem is, sometimes the remaining parts that are stuck together might not be the right order, like if you mix up the steps of a recipe, the final product might not turn out right. This is where the "exon junction complex" (EJC) comes in.
The EJC is like a group of tiny helpers that make sure the mRNA copy of the gene has been cut and stuck together correctly. It's like having a grown-up check your homework to make sure you did everything right. If the EJC finds that there is a mistake, it tells the cell to fix it before making the protein. This helps make sure that the proteins our body needs are made correctly and work the way they're supposed to.
Now, sometimes these instructions or recipes have parts that are not needed to make the protein, like how sometimes you have to peel a banana to eat it even though the peel isn't actually part of the fruit. These extra parts of the recipe are called "introns".
So when a cell wants to make a protein, it first has to make a copy of the gene called "messenger RNA" (mRNA), which is like a copy of the recipe that it can actually use. But since the mRNA copy has the extra parts that are not needed, the cell has to cut them out, sort of like how you might cut off the ends of a bread loaf that are crusty and not good to eat.
After the cell cuts out these extra parts and keeps only the parts that are needed, it sticks the remaining parts together to make a complete recipe. But the problem is, sometimes the remaining parts that are stuck together might not be the right order, like if you mix up the steps of a recipe, the final product might not turn out right. This is where the "exon junction complex" (EJC) comes in.
The EJC is like a group of tiny helpers that make sure the mRNA copy of the gene has been cut and stuck together correctly. It's like having a grown-up check your homework to make sure you did everything right. If the EJC finds that there is a mistake, it tells the cell to fix it before making the protein. This helps make sure that the proteins our body needs are made correctly and work the way they're supposed to.