Open AccessA low-molecular-weight RNA from mouse ascites cells that hybridizes to both 18S rRNA and mRNA sequences.
Author(s) -
Elizabeth S. Maxwell,
Terence E. Martin
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.83.19.7261
Subject(s) - rna , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , ribosomal rna , messenger rna , nuclease protection assay , 18s ribosomal rna , nucleotide , base pair , ribosome , intron , rna dependent rna polymerase , rna editing , rna silencing , rna polymerase i , genetics , dna , gene , rna interference
A low-molecular-weight RNA species from mouse ascites cells has been selected and purified by its intermolecular RNA X RNA hybridization capabilities. This 4.5S RNA is able to base pair with poly(A)+ mRNA sequences and with 18S rRNA. Melting experiments have shown that the intermolecular hybrids formed with this complementary low-molecular-weight RNA are of comparable stability to other RNA X RNA interactions. Analysis has shown that this hybridizing RNA is 87 nucleotides long and has an unusual sequence structure. Located near the 3' terminus is an alternating pyrimidine dinucleotide region of UUCCUUCCUU. This region along with the 3'-adjacent nucleotides form a 14-nucleotide sequence that exhibits perfect complementarity with 18S rRNA. An additional region of 10 nucleotides at the 3' terminus is perfectly homologous to a similarly located sequence in 5.8S rRNA. An obvious RNA polymerase III binding site is not found internally in this low-molecular-weight RNA sequence. The complementary and homologous character of hybridizing RNA with respect to rRNA and mRNA sequences suggests a potential regulatory role for this RNA in the coupling of ribosome and mRNA functions.