De Novo Formation of a Subnuclear Body

The mammalian cell nucleus contains structurally stable functional compartments. We show here that one of them, the Cajal body (CB), can be formed de novo. Immobilization on chromatin of both CB structural components, such as coilin, and functional components of the CB, such as the SMN complex, spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), small nucleolar RNPs, and small Cajal body–specific RNPs, is sufficient for the formation of a morphologically normal and apparently functional CB. Biogenesis of the CB does not follow a hierarchical assembly pathway and exhibits hallmarks of a self-organizing structure.

[1]  K. Neugebauer,et al.  Spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles repeatedly cycle through Cajal bodies. , 2008, Molecular biology of the cell.

[2]  David L. Spector,et al.  Chromatin Dynamics and Gene Positioning , 2008, Cell.

[3]  A. Gregory Matera,et al.  Actin-dependent intranuclear repositioning of an active gene locus in vivo , 2007, The Journal of cell biology.

[4]  T. Misteli.  Physiological importance of RNA and protein mobility in the cell nucleus , 2007, Histochemistry and Cell Biology.

[5]  R. Morse,et al.  Targeting of SMN to Cajal bodies is mediated by self-association. , 2007, Human molecular genetics.

[6]  P. Fraser,et al.  Nuclear organization of the genome and the potential for gene regulation , 2007, Nature.

[7]  T. Misteli.  Beyond the Sequence: Cellular Organization of Genome Function , 2007, Cell.

[8]  Gabriele Varani,et al.  The structure and function of small nucleolar ribonucleoproteins , 2007, Nucleic acids research.

[9]  A. Matera,et al.  Pumping RNA: nuclear bodybuilding along the RNP pipeline. , 2006, Current opinion in cell biology.

[10]  G. de Vries,et al.  Modelling the compartmentalization of splicing factors. , 2006, Journal of theoretical biology.

[11]  G. Dreyfuss,et al.  Gemins modulate the expression and activity of the SMN complex. , 2005, Human molecular genetics.

[12]  T. Misteli,et al.  In vivo kinetics of Cajal body components , 2004, The Journal of cell biology.

[13]  David L. Spector,et al.  Nuclear speckles: a model for nuclear organelles , 2003, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

[14]  A. Lamond,et al.  Cajal body proteins SMN and Coilin show differential dynamic behaviour in vivo , 2003, Journal of Cell Science.

[15]  J. Tazi,et al.  Hypermethylation of the cap structure of both yeast snRNAs and snoRNAs requires a conserved methyltransferase that is localized to the nucleolus. , 2002, Molecular cell.

[16]  A. Lamond,et al.  snRNP protein expression enhances the formation of Cajal bodies containing p80-coilin and SMN. , 2001, Journal of cell science.

[17]  R. Lührmann,et al.  Symmetrical dimethylation of arginine residues in spliceosomal Sm protein B/B' and the Sm-like protein LSm4, and their interaction with the SMN protein. , 2001, RNA.

[18]  A. Matera,et al.  Coilin forms the bridge between Cajal bodies and SMN, the spinal muscular atrophy protein. , 2001, Genes & development.

[19]  T. Misteli.  The concept of self-organization in cellular architecture , 2001, The Journal of cell biology.

[20]  A. Gregory Matera,et al.  Residual Cajal bodies in coilin knockout mice fail to recruit Sm snRNPs and SMN, the spinal muscular atrophy gene product , 2001, The Journal of cell biology.

[21]  Yunfeng Yang,et al.  Nopp140 Functions as a Molecular Link Between the Nucleolus and the Coiled Bodies , 1998, The Journal of cell biology.

[22]  Mitsuo Sekine,et al.  Snurportin1, an m3G‐cap‐specific nuclear import receptor with a novel domain structure , 1998, The EMBO journal.

[23]  E. Querido,et al.  Using fluorescent proteins to study mRNA trafficking in living cells. , 2008, Methods in cell biology.

[24]  J. Gall,et al.  Subnuclear organelles: new insights into form and function. , 2006, Trends in cell biology.

[25]  A S Belmont,et al.  Visualization of large-scale chromatin structure and dynamics using the lac operator/lac repressor reporter system. , 1999, Methods in cell biology.