U7 small nuclear RNA


The U7 small nuclear RNA is an RNA molecule and a component of the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex. The U7 snRNA is required for histone pre-mRNA processing.
The 5' end of the U7 snRNA binds the HDE, a conserved purine-rich region, located 15 nucleotides downstream the histone mRNA cleavage site. The binding of the HDE region by the U7 snRNA, through complementary base-pairing, is an important step for the future recruitment of cleavage factors during histone pre-mRNA processing.