Alternative titles; symbols
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: UTP20
Cytogenetic location: 12q23.2 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38) : 12:101,280,105-101,386,618 (from NCBI)
UTP20 is a component of the U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) (SNORD3A; 180710) protein complex (U3 snoRNP) and is involved in 18S rRNA processing (Wang et al., 2007).
Using differential display to identify transcripts downregulated in a nonmetastatic breast carcinoma cell line compared with a metastatic variant, Schwirzke et al. (1998) cloned UTP20, which they called DRIM. The deduced 2,785-amino acid protein contains several HEAT repeats of about 40 amino acids each throughout its sequence. Northern blot analysis detected strong expression of a 10-kb transcript in heart, skeletal muscle, pancreas, testis, and ovary. Expression was moderate in placenta, spleen, thymus, prostate, small intestine, appendix, and fetal liver, and very low in brain, colon, bone marrow, and normal mammary gland. No expression was detected in lung, liver, kidney, and peripheral blood leucocytes. UTP20 was also expressed in several divergent human tumor cell lines.
Xing et al. (2005) determined that the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors USF1 (191523) and USF2 (600390) bound the E box in the DRIM promoter region and directed transcription of a reporter gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis of HeLa cell extracts and electrophoretic mobility shift assays using in vitro-transcribed and -translated protein confirmed that USF2 bound the E box within the DRIM promoter region.
Using immunoprecipitation and Western and Northern blot analyses, Wang et al. (2007) showed that DRIM coprecipitated with U3 snoRNA and with fibrillarin (FBL; 134795), another component of the U3 snoRNP. Pulse-chase labeling showed that silencing DRIM expression in HeLa cells via small interfering RNA resulted in delayed 18S processing from the pre-rRNA (see RNR1; 180450).
By coprecipitation analysis, Dez et al. (2007) showed that Utp10 (HEATR1; 620390) and Utp20 were components of 90S and 40S preribosomes in yeast. Genetic depletion of either protein inhibited the early pre-rRNA processing steps in 18S rRNA maturation but had little effect on pre-rRNA transcription or synthesis of the 25S or 5.8S rRNAs. Absence of Trf5, a component of the TRAMP5 complex and exosome cofactor, led to stabilization of aberrant 23S RNA in strains depleted of Utp10 or Utp20. In the case of Utp10, 20S pre-rRNA synthesis was also modestly increased by this loss of surveillance activity.
Xing et al. (2005) stated that the UTP20 gene contains 62 exons and spans 106 kb. It has a single transcription initiation site. The promoter lacks canonical TATA or CAAT boxes, but it has numerous transcription factor-binding sites, including a functional USF-binding E box.
By FISH, Zheng and Ke (2001) mapped the UTP20 gene to chromosome 12q23.2-q23.3.
Dez, C., Dlakic, M., Tollervey, D. Roles of the HEAT repeat proteins Utp10 and Utp20 in 40S ribosome maturation. RNA 13: 1516-1527, 2007. [PubMed: 17652137] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1261/rna.609807]
Schwirzke, M., Gnirke, A., Bork, P., Tarin, D., Weidle, U. H. Differential gene expression in mammary carcinoma cell lines: identification of DRIM, a new gene down-regulated in metastasis. Anticancer Res. 18: 1409-1422, 1998. [PubMed: 9673349]
Wang, Y., Liu, J., Zhao, H., Lu, W., Zhao, J., Yang, L., Li, N., Du, X., Ke, Y. Human 1A6/DRIM, the homolog of yeast Utp20, functions in the 18S rRNA processing. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1773: 863-868, 2007. [PubMed: 17498821] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2007.04.002]
Xing, X., Du, X., Lu, Z., Ning, T., Su, X., Ke, Y. Characterization of the promoter of 1A6/DRIM, a novel cancer-related gene and identification of its transcriptional activator. Gene 344: 161-169, 2005. [PubMed: 15656982] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2004.09.036]
Zheng, S., Ke, Y. Localization and analysis of 1A6 gene by dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization on gastric carcinoma tissue and tumor cell lines. China J. Oncol. 23: 454-457, 2001. [PubMed: 11859708]