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Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Use of Alu Element Containing Minigenes to Analyze Circular RNAs
Published on: March 10, 2020
Inverted repeat Alu elements in the human lincRNA-p21 adopt a conserved secondary structure that regulates RNA
Isabel Chillón1,2, Anna M Pyle3,2,4
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Abstract:
LincRNA-p21 is a long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) involved in the p53-mediated stress response. We sequenced the human lincRNA-p21 (hLincRNA-p21) and found that it has a single exon that includes inverted repeat Alu elements (IRAlus). Sense and antisense Alu elements fold independently of one another into a secondary structure that is conserved in lincRNA-p21 among primates. Moreover, the structures formed by IRAlus are involved in the localization of hLincRNA-p21 in the nucleus, where hLincRNA-p21 colocalizes with paraspeckles. Our results underscore the importance of IRAlus structures for the function of hLincRNA-p21 during the stress response.
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