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Updated: Sep 19, 2025
Visualization of G3BP Stress Granules Dynamics in Live Primary Cells
Published on: May 21, 2014
Spatially Resolved Multibait Mapping of Stress Granule and Processing Body Transcriptome
Ziqi Ren1, Songrui Zhao2, Wei Tang2
1College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Synthetic and Functional Biomolecules Center, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Advanced Center of RNA Biology (BEACON), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
This study reveals that RNAs within stress granules (SGs) are not uniformly distributed. Specific RNA features, like m6A modification and AU content, influence their localization to SGs and processing bodies (PBs).
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
- RNA Biology
Background:
- Stress granules (SGs) are dynamic, membrane-less organelles containing RNA-protein networks.
- Previous studies characterized SG RNAs as long, translation-repressed, and epigenetically modified.
- The spatial distribution of RNAs within SGs remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distribution and characteristics of RNAs associated with different SG core proteins.
- To compare RNA profiles in SGs and processing bodies (PBs).
- To elucidate regulatory mechanisms governing mRNA localization in membrane-less organelles.
Main Methods:
- Genetically targeted the photocatalyst protein miniSOG to SG core proteins.
- Employed comprehensive CAP-seq (Cellular Assays for Proximity Sequencing) to profile SG-associated RNAs.
- Utilized CAP-seq to map RNAs associated with the PB marker protein DDX6 under unstressed and stressed conditions.
Main Results:
- RNAs proximal to different SG core proteins exhibited heterogeneous distributions and distinct intrinsic features.
- Compared transcriptomes proximal to SGs and PBs.
- Data suggest m6A modification promotes RNA localization to SGs, while higher AU content facilitates mRNA targeting to PBs.
Conclusions:
- RNA distribution within SGs is heterogeneous.
- Specific RNA features, such as m6A modification and AU content, play roles in subcellular mRNA localization.
- Findings suggest novel regulatory mechanisms for mRNA targeting to membrane-less organelles like SGs and PBs.
