TUC338 (transcribed ultra-conserved region 338) is an

ultra-conserved element An ultraconserved element (UCE) is a region of the genome that is shared between evolutionarily distant taxon, taxa and shows little or no variation between those taxa. These regions and regions adjacent to them (flanking DNA) are useful for tracing ...

which is transcribed to give a

non-coding RNA A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is a functional RNA molecule that is not Translation (genetics), translated into a protein. The DNA sequence from which a functional non-coding RNA is transcribed is often called an RNA gene. Abundant and functionally imp ...

. The TUC338 gene was first identified as uc.338, along with 480 other ultra-conserved elements in the

human genome The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as the DNA within each of the 23 distinct chromosomes in the cell nucleus. A small DNA molecule is found within individual Mitochondrial DNA, mitochondria. These ar ...

. Expression of this RNA gene has been found to dramatically increase in

hepatocellular carcinoma Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and is currently the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis. HCC is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC most common ...

(HCC) cells. The TUC338 RNA gene is 590 base-pairs long, and partially overlaps the gene encoding Poly(rC)-binding protein 2 (PCBP2), a protein involved in mRNA processing. Despite this overlap, PCBP2 and TUC388 were found to be independently expressed. TUC338 is predicted to function in

cell growth Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

, possibly at the interface between

G1 phase The G1 phase, gap 1 phase, or growth 1 phase, is the first of four phases of the cell cycle that takes place in eukaryotic cell division. In this part of interphase, the cell synthesizes Messenger RNA, mRNA and proteins in preparation for subsequ ...

and

S phase S phase (Synthesis phase) is the phase of the cell cycle in which DNA is replicated, occurring between G1 phase and G2 phase. Since accurate duplication of the genome is critical to successful cell division, the processes that occur during S ...

, and could potentially present a therapeutic target to treat HCC cells. Experimental evidence shows knocking out TUC338 using

siRNA Small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as short interfering RNA or silencing RNA, is a class of double-stranded non-coding RNA molecules, typically 20–24 base pairs in length, similar to microRNA (miRNA), and operating within the RN ...

reduced the growth rate of both mouse and human HCC cells.

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