Complementarity of End Regions Increases the Lifetime of Small RNAs in Mammalian Cells
Open Access
- 12 September 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 7 (9), e44157
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044157
Abstract
Two RNAs (4.5SH and 4.5SI) with unknown functions share a number of features: short length (about 100 nt), transcription by RNA polymerase III, predominately nuclear localization, the presence in various tissues, and relatively narrow taxonomic distribution (4 and 3 rodent families, respectively). It was reported that 4.5SH RNA turns over rapidly, whereas 4.5SI RNA is stable in the cell, but their lifetimes remained unknown. We showed that 4.5SH is indeed short-lived (t1/2∼18 min) and 4.5SI is long-lived (t1/2∼22 h) in Krebs ascites carcinoma cells. The RNA structures specifying rapid or slow decay of different small cellular RNAs remain unstudied. We searched for RNA structural features that determine the short lifetime of 4.5SH in comparison with the long lifetime of 4.5SI RNA. The sequences of genes of 4.5SH and 4.5SI RNAs were altered and human cells (HeLa) were transfected with these genes. The decay rate of the original and altered RNAs was measured. The complementarity of 16-nt end regions of 4.5SI RNA proved to contribute to its stability in cells, whereas the lack of such complementarity in 4.5SH RNA caused its rapid decay. Possible mechanisms of the phenomenon are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- tRNAs Marked with CCACCA Are Targeted for DegradationScience, 2011
- The evolution and expression of the snaR family of small non-coding RNAsNucleic Acids Research, 2010
- Non-coding RNAs: New Players in the Field of Eukaryotic DNA ReplicationPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2009
- RNA and DiseaseCell, 2009
- Small RNAs in transcriptional gene silencing and genome defenceNature, 2009
- Transcripts synthesized by RNA polymerase III can be polyadenylated in an AAUAAA-dependent mannerRNA, 2008
- Translational Control by a Small RNA: Dendritic BC1 RNA Targets the Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4A Helicase MechanismMolecular and Cellular Biology, 2008
- Degradation of several hypomodified mature tRNA species in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mediated by Met22 and the 5′–3′ exonucleases Rat1 and Xrn1Genes & Development, 2008
- Novel rapidly evolving hominid RNAs bind nuclear factor 90 and display tissue-restricted distributionNucleic Acids Research, 2007
- TTP and BRF proteins nucleate processing body formation to silence mRNAs with AU-rich elementsGenes & Development, 2007