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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
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Real-time Imaging of Single Engineered RNA Transcripts in Living Cells Using Ratiometric Bimolecular Beacons
Published on: August 6, 2014
Bsr, a nuclear-retained RNA with monoallelic expression
Hélène Royo1, Eugenia Basyuk, Virginie Marty
1Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5095, Institut d'Exploration Fonctionnelle des Génomes 109, 31062 Cedex Toulouse, France.
Molecular Biology of the Cell
|May 18, 2007
Summary
Researchers studied large noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in the Prader-Willi syndrome region. They found these RNAs form stable nuclear foci and can associate with stress granules, suggesting a novel nuclear-retained transcript role.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
- Epigenetics
Background:
- The Dlk1-Gtl2 and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) regions contain complex noncoding transcription units with tandemly repeated C/D RNA genes.
- These noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are implicated in essential but poorly understood cellular functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the intracellular localization and fate of large ncRNAs within the Dlk1-Gtl2 imprinted domain.
- To elucidate the role of Bsr ncRNA in nuclear organization and cellular stress responses.
Main Methods:
- Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was employed to visualize ncRNA transcripts at the Dlk1-Gtl2 locus in rat cells.
- Analysis of Bsr RNA localization in response to drug treatments to assess its interaction with subnuclear structures and stress granules.
Main Results:
- The Bsr gene, encoding 86 homologous RBII-36 C/D RNA copies, is monoallelically expressed, producing abundant unspliced and spliced RNAs at the transcription site.
- Spliced Bsr RNAs form stable nuclear foci independent of known subnuclear structures.
- A fraction of Bsr RNA relocates to the cytoplasm upon drug treatment, associating with stress granules (SGs) but not P-bodies.
Conclusions:
- Bsr RNA represents a novel class of nuclear-retained transcripts with a unique intracellular localization pattern.
- The association of Bsr RNA with stress granules suggests a potential role in ncRNA metabolism and cellular stress response pathways.
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