Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Spatio-Temporal Manipulation of Small GTPase Activity at Subcellular Level and on Timescale of Seconds in Living Cells
Published on: March 9, 2012
A critical role for non-coding RNA GAS5 in growth arrest and rapamycin inhibition in human T-lymphocytes
Gwyn T Williams1, Mirna Mourtada-Maarabouni, Farzin Farzaneh
1Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine and School of Life Sciences, Huxley Building, Keele University, Keele ST5 5BG, UK. g.t.williams@keele.ac.uk
Abstract:
Non-coding RNA GAS5 (growth arrest-specific transcript 5) is a 5'-TOP (5'-terminal oligopyrimidine tract) RNA, whose translation, and consequently also stability, is controlled by the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway. GAS5 was identified by functional expression cloning and is necessary and sufficient for normal growth arrest in both leukaemic and untransformed human T-lymphocytes. GAS5 is also required for the inhibitory effects of rapamycin and its analogues on T-cells. The striking functional effects of GAS5 may be mediated through the snoRNAs (small nucleolar RNAs) encoded in its introns and/or through the unusual folding of the mRNA itself, which sequesters, and therefore inhibits, the glucocorticoid receptor.
Related Concept Videos
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Small GTPases - Ras and Rho
Three regulatory proteins control their activity:
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
Negative Regulator Molecules
Types of RNA
Three main types of RNA are involved in protein synthesis: messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). These RNAs perform diverse functions and can be broadly classified as protein-coding or non-coding RNA. Non-coding RNAs play important roles in the regulation of gene expression in response to developmental and environmental changes. Non-coding RNAs in prokaryotes can be manipulated to develop more effective antibacterial drugs for human or animal use.
RNA...
Types of RNA
RNA Performs Diverse...
