Description
A long form (tRNase ZL) of tRNA 3' processing endoribonuclease (tRNase Z, or 3' tRNase) can cleave any target RNA at any desired site under the direction of artificial small guide RNA (sgRNA). We discovered in human kidney 293 cell extracts various new small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) including 5'-half-tRNAs and 28S rRNA fragments, co-immunoprecipitated with tRNase ZL, and demonstrated that two of these ncRNAs work as sgRNAs for tRNase ZL in vivo as well as in vitro. In order to find genuine mRNA targets of tRNase ZL guided by ncRNAs, we performed DNA microarray analysis for mRNAs from the 293 cells transfected with the tRNase ZL expression plasmid, and found that PPM1F and DYNC1H1 mRNAs are its genuine targets.