Guided tours: from precursor snoRNA to functional snoRNP.
Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) use base pairing to guide modification of conserved nucleotides in functionally important regions of ribosomal RNA. The box C/D snoRNAs direct 2'-O-methylation and the box H/ACA snoRNAs direct pseudouridylation. Each snoRNA interacts with proteins, many of them newly identified. Progress in understanding how snoRNA sequences are stored within genomes, liberated from precursor molecules and targeted to the nucleolus has begun to elucidate each step in the biogenesis of these critical contributors to ribosome formation.
Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale School of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 295 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT 06536, USA.
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Weinstein
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Steitz
D000818:Animals; D002466:Cell Nucleolus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012342:RNA, Small Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D012322:RNA Precursors; D012342:RNA, Small Nuclear; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear