2016/03/21 by Qiuyan Wang, Iain A. Sawyer, Myong‐Hee Sung +7 · 1 voice · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics #RNA Research and Splicing #RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms10966
openalex publication_date 2016/03/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The mechanisms underlying nuclear body (NB) formation and their contribution to genome function are unknown. Here we examined the non-random positioning of Cajal bodies (CBs), major NBs involved in spliceosomal snRNP assembly and their role in genome organization. CBs are predominantly located at the periphery of chromosome territories at a multi-chromosome interface. Genome-wide chromosome conformation capture analysis (4C-seq) using CB-interacting loci revealed that CB-associated regions are enriched with highly expressed histone genes and U small nuclear or nucleolar RNA (sn/snoRNA) loci that form intra- and inter-chromosomal clusters. In particular, we observed a number of CB-dependent gene-positioning events on chromosome 1. RNAi-mediated disassembly of CBs disrupts the CB-targeting gene clusters and suppresses the expression of U sn/snoRNA and histone genes. This loss of spliceosomal snRNP production results in increased splicing noise, even in CB-distal regions. Therefore, we conclude that CBs contribute to genome organization with global effects on gene expression and RNA splicing fidelity.