Small nucleolar RNA SNORD15 explained

Small nucleolar RNA SNORD15
Symbol:	SNORD15
Altsymbols:	U15
Rfam:	RF00067
Rna Type:	Gene snRNA; snoRNA; CD-box
Tax Domain:	Eukaryota

In molecular biology, SNORD15 (also known as U15) is a non-coding RNA (ncRNA) molecule which functions in the modification of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs, also a type of ncRNAs). This type of modifying RNA is usually located in the nucleolus of the eukaryotic cell which is a major site of snRNA biogenesis. It is known as a small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) and also often referred to as a guide RNA.

U15 belongs to the C/D box class of snoRNAs which contain the conserved sequence motifs known as the C box (UGAUGA) and the D box (CUGA). Most of the members of the box C/D family function in directing site-specific 2'-O-methylation of substrate RNAs.^[1] U15 is predicted to guide the 2'O-ribose methylation of 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) residue A3764.^{[2] [3]}

In humans there are two closely related copies of the U15 snoRNA (called SNORD15A and SNORD15B). They are both encoded in the introns of the ribosomal protein S3.^[4] In Xenopus laevis it is located within the introns of ribosomal protein S1 ^[5]

snoR75 from Arabidopsis thaliana^[6] and homologues in rice Oryza sativa and other plants are alternatively known as U15, and, despite a significantly shorter sequence length, appear to be related.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Galardi . S.. Fatica . A.. Bachi . A.. Scaloni . A.. Presutti . C.. Bozzoni . I.. 10.1128/MCB.22.19.6663-6668.2002 . Purified Box C/D snoRNPs Are Able to Reproduce Site-Specific 2'-O-Methylation of Target RNA in Vitro . Molecular and Cellular Biology. 22 . 19 . 6663–6668 . October 2002 . 12215523. 134041.
2. Kiss-László Z, Henry Y, Bachellerie JP, Caizergues-Ferrer M, Kiss T . Site-specific ribose methylation of preribosomal RNA: a novel function for small nucleolar RNAs . Cell . 85 . 7 . 1077–88 . 1996 . 8674114 . 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81308-2 . 10418885 . free .
3. Lestrade . Laurent . Weber . Michel J. . snoRNA-LBME-db, a comprehensive database of human H/ACA and C/D box snoRNAs . 10.1093/nar/gkj002 . . 34 . Supplement 1: Database Issue . D158–D162 . 2006 . 1347365 . 16381836 . 10.1.1.105.7552.
4. Tycowski KT, Shu MD, Steitz JA . A small nucleolar RNA is processed from an intron of the human gene encoding ribosomal protein S3 . Genes Dev. . 7 . 7A . 1176–90 . 1993 . 8319909 . 10.1101/gad.7.7a.1176 . free .
5. Pellizzoni L, Crosio C, Campioni N, Loreni F, Pierandrei-Amaldi P . Different forms of U15 snoRNA are encoded in the introns of the ribosomal protein S1 gene of Xenopus laevis . Nucleic Acids Res. . 22 . 22 . 4607–13 . 1994 . 7984408 . 10.1093/nar/22.22.4607. 308507 .
6. Barneche F, Gaspin C, Guyot R, Echeverría M . Identification of 66 box C/D snoRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana: extensive gene duplications generated multiple isoforms predicting new ribosomal RNA 2'-O-methylation sites . J. Mol. Biol. . 311 . 1 . 57–73 . 2001 . 11469857 . 10.1006/jmbi.2001.4851 .
7. Brown JW . Plant snoRNA database . Nucleic Acids Res. . 31 . 1 . 432–5 . 2003 . 12520043 . 10.1093/nar/gkg009. 165456 . vanc. Echeverria M . Qu LH . 3 . Lowe . TM . Bachellerie . JP . Hüttenhofer . A . Kastenmayer . JP . Green . PJ . Shaw . P .