title: Emerging roles for hnRNPs in post-transcriptional regulation: what can we learn from flies?
abstract: Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins able to associate with nascent RNAs in order to support their localization, maturation and translation. Research over this last decade has remarked the importance of gene regulatory processes at post-transcriptional level, highlighting the emerging roles of hnRNPs in several essential biological events. Indeed, hnRNPs are key factors in regulating gene expression, thus, having a number of roles in many biological pathways. Moreover, failure of the activities catalysed by hnRNPs affects various biological processes and may underlie several human diseases including cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative syndromes. In this review, we summarize some of hnRNPs' roles in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, particularly focusing on their participation in all aspects of post-transcriptional regulation as well as their conserved role and involvement in the aetiology of human pathologies.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento STEBICEF, Istituto Telethon Dulbecco c/o Universita' degli Studi di Palermo, 90128, Palermo, Italy, lucalopiccolo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luca Lo
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Piccolo
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corona
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Onorati
mesh_terms: D021581:Active Transport, Cell Nucleus; D000818:Animals; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D020271:Heredodegenerative Disorders, Nervous System / Q000235:genetics; D034441:Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D034441:Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins; D012313:RNA