U2 is the most extensively modified of all spliceosomal snRNAs.
We previously showed that at least some of the internally modified
nucleotides in U2 snRNA are required for snRNP biogenesis and
pre-mRNA splicing. Recent work from several laboratories suggests
that nuclear guide RNAs facilitate U2 snRNA internal modification,
including pseudouridylation and 2′-O-methylation.
Here, we present a novel approach to identifying guide RNAs
for U2 pseudouridylation. Several Xenopus oocyte nuclear
RNAs were affinity selected with U2 snRNA substituted with
5-fluorouridine, a pseudouridylation inhibitor that sequesters
pseudouridylases. One of these RNAs was sequenced and found
to be a novel RNA of 134 nt. This small RNA contains an H/ACA
motif and folds into a typical H/ACA RNA structure, and its
authenticity as an H/ACA RNA was confirmed by immunoprecipitation
analysis. The RNA contains two guide sequences for
pseudouridylation (Ψ) of U2 snRNA at positions 34 and 44
in the branch-site recognition region, and we demonstrate that
this RNA indeed guides the formation of Ψ34
and Ψ44 in U2 using a Xenopus oocyte
reconstitution system. Therefore, this novel RNA was designated
pugU2-34/44, for pseudouridylation guide
for U2 snRNA U34 and
U44. Intranuclear localization analyses
indicate that pugU2-34/44 resides within the nucleoplasm rather
than nucleoli or Cajal bodies where other guide RNAs have been
localized. Our results clarify the mechanism of U2 snRNA
pseudouridylation in Xenopus oocytes, and have interesting
implications with regard to the intranuclear localization of
U2 snRNA pseudouridylation.