Work has potential implications for new therapies to treat cancer and neurodegenerative disorders A team of Case Western Reserve University researchers has found a way to measure key characteristics of proteins that bind to RNA in cells-a discovery that could improve our understanding of how gene function is disturbed in cancer, neurodegenerative disorders or infections. RNA-short for ribonucleic acid-carries genetic instructions within the body. RNA-binding proteins play an important role in the regulation of gene expression. Scientists already knew that the way these proteins function depends on their “binding kinetics,” a term that describes how frequently they latch on to a site in an RNA, and how long they stay there.