Like a stretched phone cord that is released, it snaps back into its usual shape. The researchers discovered that the protein that binds to Z-DNA is an enzyme that changes the genetic message contained in the messenger RNA molecule by changing one of the four nucleotides into another. The protein is an editing enzyme that chemically transforms adenine into a molecule that acts like guanine. The DNA molecule is composed of two complementary strands that are wound around each other and connected by base pairs that look like rungs in a ladder. Some of the modified proteins created by the editing enzyme are very important, and several have been found in the brain.
Glutamic acid is one of the major excitatory molecules in the brain.
The editing enzyme changes the glutamate receptor in a way that has been shown to be important for normal brain function. Without it, animals develop epilepsy and die. Another change is in the receptor for serotonin. Prozac and similar drugs affect the amount of serotonin, which is involved in transmitting nerve impulses in the brain. Editing the receptor tones down the brain's response to serotonin.