hnRNP C Tetramer Measures RNA Length to Classify RNA Polymerase II Transcripts for Export

Specific RNA recognition is usually achieved by specific RNA sequences and/or structures. However, we show here a mechanism by which RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcripts are classified according to their length. The heterotetramer of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) C1/C2 measur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2012-03, Vol.335 (6076), p.1643-1646
Main Authors: MCCLOSKEY, Asako, TANIGUCHI, Ichiro, SHINMYOZU, Kaori, OHNO, Mutsuhito
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Binding sites
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Nucleus - metabolism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
HeLa Cells
Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group C - chemistry
Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group C - metabolism
Humans
Molecular and cellular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular genetics
Nuclear Cap-Binding Protein Complex - metabolism
Nuclear Proteins - metabolism
Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Proteins - metabolism
Phosphoproteins - metabolism
Protein Binding
Protein Multimerization
Proteins
Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism
RNA polymerase
RNA Polymerase II - metabolism
RNA Splicing
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
RNA, Small Interfering
RNA, Small Nuclear - metabolism
RNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism
Transcription Factors - metabolism
Transcription, Genetic
Transcription. Transcription factor. Splicing. Rna processing
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Summary:Specific RNA recognition is usually achieved by specific RNA sequences and/or structures. However, we show here a mechanism by which RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcripts are classified according to their length. The heterotetramer of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) C1/C2 measures the length of the transcripts like a molecular ruler, by selectively binding to the unstructured RNA regions longer than 200 to 300 nucleotides. Thus, the tetramer sorts the transcripts into two RNA categories, to be exported as either messenger RNA or uridine-rich small nuclear RNA (U snRNA), depending on whether or not they are longer than the threshold, respectively. Our findings reveal a new function of the C tetramer and highlight the biological importance of RNA recognition by the length.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1218469