MALAT1-associated small cytoplasmic RNA, also known as mascRNA, is a

non-coding RNA A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is a functional RNA molecule that is not Translation (genetics), translated into a protein. The DNA sequence from which a functional non-coding RNA is transcribed is often called an RNA gene. Abundant and functionally im ...

found in the

cytosol The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells ( intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondri ...

. This is a small RNA, roughly 53–61 nucleotides in length, that is processed from a much longer ncRNA called

MALAT1 MALAT 1 (metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1) also known as NEAT2 (noncoding nuclear-enriched abundant transcript 2) is a large, infrequently spliced non-coding RNA, which is highly conserved amongst mammals and highly expressed ...

by an enzyme called

RNase P Ribonuclease P (, ''RNase P'') is a type of ribonuclease which cleaves RNA. RNase P is unique from other RNases in that it is a ribozyme – a ribonucleic acid that acts as a catalyst in the same way that a protein-based enzyme would. Its f ...

. This RNA is expressed in many different human tissues, is highly conserved by evolution and shares a remarkable similarity to

tRNA Transfer RNA (abbreviated tRNA and formerly referred to as sRNA, for soluble RNA) is an adaptor molecule composed of RNA, typically 76 to 90 nucleotides in length (in eukaryotes), that serves as the physical link between the mRNA and the amino ...

which is also produced by RNase P, yet this RNA is not aminoacylated in HeLa cells. The primary transcript, MALAT1 (metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1), appears to be upregulated in several malignant

cancers Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

. Another small RNA that is homologous to mascRNA, called menRNA, is processed from another long ncRNA called MEN beta. MALAT1 appears to be involved in the regulation of alternative splicing. MALAT1 interacts with

SR protein SR proteins are a conserved family of proteins involved in RNA splicing. SR proteins are named because they contain a protein domain with long repeats of serine and arginine amino acid residues, whose standard abbreviations are "S" and "R" respe ...

s, influencing the distribution of these in nuclear speckle domains.

References

External links

OMIM page for MALAT1

HGNC page for MALAT1
*
Entrez Gene: MALAT1-associated small cytoplasmic RNA
Non-coding RNA {{molecular-cell-biology-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links