Researchers report MALAT1 gene regulates pre-mRNA splicing in cancer

Researchers report MALAT1 gene regulates pre-mRNA splicing in cancer
24. September 2010 00:33

Researchers report this month that MALAT1, a long non-coding RNA that is implicated in certain cancers, regulates pre-mRNA splicing - a critical step in the earliest stage of protein production. Their study appears in the journal Molecular Cell.

Nearly 5 percent of the human genome codes for proteins, and scientists are only beginning to understand the role of the rest of the "non-coding" genome. Among the least studied non-coding genes - which are transcribed from DNA to RNA but generally are not translated into proteins - are the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs).

Before the human genome was fully sequenced, it was a "protein-centric world," said University of Illinois cell and developmental biology professor Kannanganattu Prasanth, who led the study. With the sequencing of the genome it became clear, however, that a majority of genes code for RNAs that are not translated into proteins.

In recent years, research on non-coding RNAs has blossomed, but most studies have focused only on small non-coding RNAs, which play critical roles in several aspects of cellular function. There have been comparatively fewer studies on lncRNAs, Prasanth said. As a result, researchers are only beginning to understand the functions of a few lncRNAs.

Prasanth's laboratory focuses on understanding the role of lncRNAs, such as MALAT1, which normally are distributed in the nucleus of mammalian cells.

full-text:
Researchers report MALAT1 gene regulates pre-mRNA splicing in cancer