Coilin

Coilin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the COIL gene.^[5][6] Coilin got its name from the coiled shape of the Cajal bodies in which it is found. It was first identified using human autoimmune serum.

COIL
Identifiers
Aliases	COIL, Coil, C79982, Cln80, p80, p80-coilin, coilin
External IDs	OMIM: 600272; MGI: 104842; HomoloGene: 3413; GeneCards: COIL; OMA:COIL - orthologs
Gene location (Human) Chr. Chromosome 17 (human)[1] Band 17q22 Start 56,938,199 bp[1] End 56,961,050 bp[1]
Gene location (Mouse) Chr. Chromosome 11 (mouse)[2] Band 11 C|11 54.34 cM Start 88,861,078 bp[2] End 88,882,439 bp[2]
RNA expression pattern Bgee Human Mouse (ortholog) Top expressed in sperm buccal mucosa cell left testis right testis hair follicle tibia germinal epithelium parietal pleura gingival epithelium urethra Top expressed in spermatid spermatocyte seminiferous tubule blastocyst morula mandibular prominence maxillary prominence primitive streak epiblast external carotid artery More reference expression data BioGPS More reference expression data
Gene ontology Molecular function protein binding identical protein binding protein C-terminus binding U1 snRNA binding U2 snRNA binding Cellular component Cajal body nucleolus membrane nucleus nucleoplasm fibrillar center nuclear body Biological process spliceosomal snRNP assembly Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs Species Human Mouse Entrez 8161 12812 Ensembl ENSG00000121058 ENSMUSG00000033983 UniProt P38432 E9Q284 RefSeq (mRNA) NM_004645 NM_016706 RefSeq (protein) NP_004636 NP_057915 Location (UCSC) Chr 17: 56.94 – 56.96 Mb Chr 11: 88.86 – 88.88 Mb PubMed search [3] [4]
Wikidata
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Function

Coilin protein is one of the main molecular components of Cajal bodies. Cajal bodies are non-membrane bound nuclear bodies of varying number and composition that are involved in the post-transcriptional modification of small nuclear and small nucleolar RNAs. In addition to its structural role, coilin acts as glue to connect the CB to the nucleolus. The N-terminus of the coilin protein directs its self-oligomerization while the C-terminus influences the number of nuclear bodies assembled per cell. Differential methylation and phosphorylation of coilin likely influences its localization among nuclear bodies and the composition and assembly of Cajal bodies. This gene has pseudogenes on chromosome 4 and chromosome 14.^[6]

To study CBs, coilin can be combined with GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) to form Coilin-GFP hybrid protein. The hybrid protein can then be used to locate CBs underneath a microscope, usually near the nucleolus of the cell. Other proteins that make up the CB include snRNPs and nucleolar snoRNPs.

Coilin has been shown to interact with ataxin 1,^[7][8] nucleolar phosphoprotein p130,^[9] SMN,^[10][11] and SNRPB.^[11]