RESEARCH ARTICLE Viperin mRNA is a novel target for the human RNase MRP/RNase P endoribonuclease

The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract RNase MRP is a conserved endoribonuclease, in humans consisting of a 267-nucleotide RNA associated with 7–10 proteins. Mutations in its RNA component lead to several autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasias, includ-ing cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH). Because the known substrates of mammalian RNase MRP, pre-ribosomal RNA, and RNA involved in mitochondrial DNA replication are not likely involved in CHH, we analyzed the effects of RNase MRP (and the structurally related RNase P) depletion on mRNAs using DNA microarrays. We con-firmed the upregulation of the interferon-inducible viperin mRNA by RNAi experiments and this appeared to be independent of the interferon response. We detected two cleavage sites for RNase MRP/RNase P in the coding sequence of viperin mRNA. This is the first study provid-ing direct evidence for the cleavage of a mRNA by RNase MRP/RNase P in human cells. Implications for the involvement in the pathophysiology of CHH are discussed