Coilin and Cajal bodies

ABSTRACT

The nucleus of higher eukaryotes contains a number of structures that concentrate specific biomolecules and play distinct roles in nuclear metabolism. In recent years, the molecular mechanisms controlling their formation have been intensively studied. In this brief review, I focus on coilin and Cajal bodies. Coilin is a key scaffolding protein of Cajal bodies that is evolutionarily conserved in metazoans. Cajal bodies are thought to be one of the archetypal nuclear structures involved in the metabolism of several short non-coding nuclear RNAs. Yet surprisingly little is known about the structure and function of coilin, and a comprehensive model to explain the origin of Cajal bodies is also lacking. Here, I summarize recent results on Cajal bodies and coilin and discuss them in the context of the last three decades of research in this field.

KEYWORDS:

• Cajal bodies
• coilin
• snoRNA
• snRNA
• snRNP
• telomerase RNA

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (21-04132S) and the institutional funding (RVO68378050 and RVO68378050-KAV-NPUI).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data availability statement

There are no primary data associated with this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Akademie Věd České Republiky [RVO68378050]; Grantová Agentura České Republiky [21-04132S].