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Requirement for intron-encoded U22 small nucleolar RNA in 18S ribosomal RNA maturation
K T Tycowski1, M D Shu, J A Steitz
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06536.
Abstract:
The nucleoli of vertebrate cells contain a number of small RNAs that are generated by the processing of intron fragments of protein-coding gene transcripts. The host gene (UHG) for intro-encoded human U22 is unusual in that it specifies a polyadenylated but apparently noncoding RNA. Depletion of U22 from Xenopus oocytes by oligonucleotide-directed ribonuclease H targeting prevented the processing of 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) at both ends. The appearance of 18S rRNA was restored by injection of in vitro-synthesized U22 RNA. These results identify a cellular function for an intron-encoded small RNA.