A novel noncoding RNA rescues mutant SOD1-mediated cell death

作者：Chang Yueming; Stockinger Michael P; Tashiro Hirofumi; Lin Chien Liang Glenn^*

来源：The FASEB Journal, 2008, 22(3): 691-702.

DOI：10.1096/fj.07-9532com

• ALS
• neurodegeneration
• rRNA

Transgenic mice expressing mutant Cu2+/Zn2+ superoxide dismutase SOD1 (G93A) develop similar clinical and pathological phenotypes to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Here, we utilize representational difference analysis to identify the transcripts that are up-regulated in the presymptomatic stage of SOD1 (G93A) mice. Unexpectedly, three predominant clones were 18S or 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) segments. One of these clones corresponded to a capped and polyadenylated transcript containing a large portion of 18S rRNA, named MSUR1 (mutant SOD1-up-regulated RNA 1). In vitro expression experiments show that MSUR1 is able to rescue SOD1 (G93A)mediated cell death. Expression of MSUR1 significantly reduces SOD1 (G93A)-induced free radical levels and oxidative damage. Further, MSUR1 can reduce hydrogen peroxide-mediated cytotoxicity. MSUR1 does not encode a protein, suggesting its role as a functional noncoding RNA. It is widely expressed in various tissues. Searching the database of GenBank revealed that a large number of expressed sequence tag (EST) clones contain large portions of rRNA sequence, potentially indicating a heretofore overlooked class of mRNAs with functional significance.

• 出版日期2008-3