- Huang, Chunliu;
- Shi, Junjie;
- Guo, Yibin;
- Huang, Weijun;
- Huang, Shanshan;
- Ming, Siqi;
- Wu, Xingui;
- Zhang, Rui;
- Ding, Junjun;
- Zhao, Wei;
- Jia, Jie;
- Huang, Xi;
- Xiang, Andy Peng;
- Shi, Yongsheng;
- Yao, Chengguo
mRNA 3' end processing is an essential step in gene expression. It is well established that canonical eukaryotic pre-mRNA 3' processing is carried out within a macromolecular machinery consisting of dozens of trans-acting proteins. However, it is unknown whether RNAs play any role in this process. Unexpectedly, we found that a subset of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are associated with the mammalian mRNA 3' processing complex. These snoRNAs primarily interact with Fip1, a component of cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF). We have functionally characterized one of these snoRNAs and our results demonstrated that the U/A-rich SNORD50A inhibits mRNA 3' processing by blocking the Fip1-poly(A) site (PAS) interaction. Consistently, SNORD50A depletion altered the Fip1-RNA interaction landscape and changed the alternative polyadenylation (APA) profiles and/or transcript levels of a subset of genes. Taken together, our data revealed a novel function for snoRNAs and provided the first evidence that non-coding RNAs may play an important role in regulating mRNA 3' processing.