Detection of mitochondrial regulatory region RNA in cultured cells and differentiated tissue cells: the implications for cellular growth control

摘要

In mitochondria, there are many RNAs for which the function has yet to be fully characterized. In this paper, attention is focused on these poorly characterized RNAs and their possible role in regulating mitochondrial function. Using a cDNA clone made from a 0.2 kb L-strand transcript of mitochondrial regulatory region RNA (mrrL-RNA) as a probe, we detected 1.3 kb RNAs from human tissues and cultured cells, and cloned cDNAs to them. Primary sequence studies suggest that they are transcribed from H-strand mitochondrial regulatory region DNA. Both the 1.3 kb RNA, referred to as mrrH-RNA hereafter, and mrrL-RNA were detected in all human tissues and cultured cells examined.