Small nucleolar RNA SNORD44

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Small nucleolar RNA SNORD44

Type:	Gene; snRNA; guide; CD-box;
2° structure:	Predicted; Moxon SJ, Daub J
Seed alignment:	Moxon SJ
Avg length:	60.6 nucleotides
Avg identity:	92%

snoRNA U44 (also known as SNORD44) is a non-coding RNA (ncRNA) molecule which functions in the modification of other small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). This type of modifiying RNA is usually located in the nucleolus of the eukaryotic cell which is a major site of snRNA biogenesis. It is known as a small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) and also often referred to as a guide RNA.

snoRNA U44 belongs to the C/D box class of snoRNAs which contain the conserved sequence motifs known as the C box (UGAUGA) and the D box (CUGA). Most of the members of the box C/D family function in directing site-specific 2'-O-methylation of substrate RNAs^[1].

U44 was originally cloned from HeLa cells and expression verified by northern blotting ^[2]. It is predicted to guide 2'O-ribose methylation of 18S ribosomal RNA(rRNA) at residue A166 ^[3]. In the human genome, U44 is located in the same gene as several other C/D box snoRNAs (U47, U74, U75, U76, U77, U78, U79, U80 and U81) ^[3].

[edit] References

^ Galardi, S; Fatica A, Bachi A, Scaloni A, Presutti C, Bozzoni I (2002). "Purified box C/D snoRNPs are able to reproduce site-specific 2'-O-methylation of target RNA in vitro". Mol Cell Biol 22: 6663–6668. doi:10.1128/MCB.22.19.6663-6668.2002. PMID 12215523.
^ Kiss-László Z, Henry Y, Bachellerie JP, Caizergues-Ferrer M, Kiss T (1996). "Site-specific ribose methylation of preribosomal RNA: a novel function for small nucleolar RNAs". Cell 85 (7): 1077–88. PMID 8674114.
^ ^a ^b Lestrade, L; Weber MJ (2006). "snoRNA-LBME-db, a comprehensive database of human H/ACA and C/D box snoRNAs". Nucleic Acids Res. 34: D158–D162. doi:10.1093/nar/gkj002. PMID 16381836.