Project name: Homo sapiens

Description: We have recently shown that transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs) are derived from sequences downstream of transcription start sites. Here we report the identification of a second class of nuclear-specific ~17-18 nucleotide small RNA whose 3’ ends map precisely to the splice donor site of internal exons in animals. These splice-site RNAs (spliRNAs) are associated with highly expressed genes, and show evidence of developmental stage- and region-specific expression. We also confirm that tiRNAs are nuclear localized, enriched at chromatin marks associated with transcription initiation, and possess a 3’ nucleotide bias. Additionally, we find that microRNA-offset RNAs (moRNAs), the oncogenic miR-15/16 cluster and most snoRNA-derived small RNAs (sdRNAs) are enriched in the nucleus, whereas most miRNAs and two H/ACA sdRNAs are cytoplasmically enriched. We propose that nuclear localized tiny RNAs are involved in epigenetic regulation of gene expression.Overall design: Discovery and characterization of small RNA species through high-througput deep sequencing of nuclear, cytoplasmic and total small RNA fractions from THP-1 cells, a monocytic leukemia cell line. Additional files and information are available at http://matticklab.com/index.php?title=NuclearTinyRNAs

Data type: Transcriptome or Gene expression

Sample scope: Multiisolate

Relevance: Medical

Release date: 2010-07-01

Last updated: 2010-03-05