title: Characterization of three novel imprinted snoRNAs from mouse Irm gene.
abstract: Most, if not all, of snoRNAs in mammals are intron-encoded, implying the expressional and functional relativeness between the snoRNA and their hosts. By computational analysis of an intron database extracted from 65 known mouse imprinted genes, three novel orphan box C/D snoRNAs were identified from Irm gene which is maternally expressed and related to human disorders. The snoRNAs were positively detected and found to express in all the mouse tissues except kidney. The imprinted snoRNAs exhibit stringent structures, but quite variable in locations at their host introns, suggesting their maturation probably through a splicing independent manner. We characterized Irm as a new kind of snoRNA host gene which has no protein-coding capacity and no 5'TOP structure in its mRNA. The newly identified snoRNAs appear mouse-specific, however, their function remains to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Liang-Hu
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D018392:Genomic Imprinting / Q000235:genetics*; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D020537:RNA, Small Nucleolar / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020537:RNA, Small Nucleolar; D014157:Transcription Factors