Microarray analysis of ncRNA expression patterns in Caenorhabditis elegans after RNAi against snoRNA associated proteins

Background Short non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) perform their cellular functions in ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes, which are also essential for maintaining the stability of the ncRNAs. Depletion of individual protein components of non-coding ribonucleoprotein (ncRNP) particles by RNA interference (RNAi) may therefore affect expression levels of the corresponding ncRNA, and depletion of candidate associated proteins may constitute an alternative strategy when investigating ncRNA-protein interactions and ncRNA functions. Therefore, we carried out a pilot study in which the effects of RNAi against protein components of small nucleolar RNPs (snoRNPs) in Caenorhabditis elegans were observed on an ncRNA microarray.