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Updated: Oct 22, 2025
Enhanced Northern Blot Detection of Small RNA Species in Drosophila Melanogaster
Published on: August 21, 2014
An alternative D. melanogaster 7SK snRNP
Duy Nguyen1, Nicolas Buisine2, Olivier Fayol1
1Université Paris-Saclay, INSERM, CNRS, Interactions cellulaires et physiopathologie hépatique, Bât.440, 91405, Orsay, France.
Background:
The 7SK small nuclear RNA (snRNA) found in most metazoans is a key regulator of P-TEFb which in turn regulates RNA polymerase II elongation. Although its primary sequence varies in protostomes, its secondary structure and function are conserved across evolutionary distant taxa.
Results:
Here, we describe a novel ncRNA sharing many features characteristic of 7SK RNAs, in D. melanogaster. We examined the structure of the corresponding gene and determined the expression profiles of the encoded RNA, called snRNA:7SK:94F, during development. It is probably produced from the transcription of a lncRNA which is processed into a mature snRNA. We also addressed its biological function and we show that, like dm7SK, this alternative 7SK interacts in vivo with the different partners of the P-TEFb complex, i.e. HEXIM, LARP7 and Cyclin T. This novel RNA is widely expressed across tissues.
Conclusion:
We propose that two distinct 7SK genes might contribute to the formation of the 7SK snRNP complex in D. melanogaster.
