The intron-containing L3 ribosomal protein gene (RPL3): sequence analysis and identification of U43 and of two novel intronic small nucleolar RNAs

Plasma SNORD83A as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer

Aim: This study aimed to access the efficacy of plasma small nucleolar RNAs in early diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: SNORD83A was selected based on databases and further verified in 48 paired formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, as well as in plasma from 150 NSCLC patients and 150 healthy donors. The diagnostic efficiency of plasma SNORD83A, as well as in combination with carcinoembryonic antigen, was determined by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results: SNORD83A was significantly increased not only in tissues but also in plasma from NSCLC patients compared with those from healthy donors. Plasma SNORD83A was able to act as a diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC. The diagnostic efficiency of carcinoembryonic antigen was also significantly elevated for early-stage NSCLC when combined with SNORD83A. Conclusion: SNORD83A can serve as a diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC.

Alternative splicing and nonsense-mediated mRNA decay regulate mammalian ribosomal gene expression

Messenger RNAs containing premature stop codons are generally targeted for degradation through nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). This mechanism degrades aberrant transcripts derived from mutant genes containing nonsense or frameshift mutations. Wild-type genes also give rise to transcripts targeted by NMD. For example, some wild-type genes give rise to alternatively spliced transcripts that are targeted for decay by NMD. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the ribosomal protein (rp) L12 gene generates a nonsense codon-bearing alternatively spliced transcript that is induced in an autoregulatory manner by the rpL12 protein. By pharmacologically blocking the NMD pathway, we identified alternatively spliced mRNA transcripts derived from the human rpL3 and rpL12 genes that are natural targets of NMD. The deduced protein sequence of these alternatively spliced transcripts suggests that they are unlikely to encode functional ribosomal proteins. Overexpression of rpL3 increased the level of the alternatively spliced rpL3 mRNA and decreased the normally expressed rpL3. This indicates that rpL3 regulates its own production by a negative feedback loop and suggests the possibility that NMD participates in this regulatory loop by degrading the non-functional alternatively spliced transcript.

Comparative mapping of RPL3, a gene overexpressed in multiple obesity models

The ribosomal protein 3 gene is differentially expressed in hypothalamus and brown adipose tissue between mouse lines divergently selected for heat loss, and in skeletal muscle of the ob/ob mouse model. Unfortunately, multiple Rpl3-processed pseudogenes have hampered mapping of the functional gene copy in mammalian species. Using PCR amplification with intronic primer binding, we have mapped Rpl3 to MMU15, and have also localized RPL3 to BTA5 in cattle. Comparative mapping implicates a previously mapped copy of RPL3 on HSA22 as the functional copy of human RPL3, while predictive mapping places the porcine homologue on SSC5.