nuclear stress granule

GO:0097165 · Ribonucleoprotein · Other · Proposed

A dense aggregation in the nucleus composed of proteins and RNAs that appear when the cell is under stress. [GO:0097165]

Synonyms: nuclear stress body; nSB; HSF1 granule

Part of: nuclear lumen (GO:0031981)

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Essential	Role
heat shock factor 1	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	HSF1	UNKNOWN	Activated heat shock factor that binds satellite III repeats and concentrates at the stress-induced nuclear granule. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.200109018` Jolly et al. 2002 mapped HSF1 granules to human chromosome 9 heterochromatin and showed direct HSF1 binding to satellite III repeats during stress. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104` Jolly et al. 2004 connected HSF1-containing nuclear stress granules with RNA polymerase II transcription of satellite III repeats.
satellite III stress-induced RNA	Rna	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)		UNKNOWN	Large stress-induced satellite III noncoding RNAs that remain associated with the heterochromatic nuclear stress granule locus. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104` Jolly et al. 2004 showed that satellite III repeats are transcribed into large stable RNAs that remain associated with human nuclear stress granule loci.
pre-mRNA processing factor cohort	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)		UNKNOWN	Pre-mRNA processing factors that accumulate in nuclear stress granules after heat shock. `DOI:10.1091/mbc.12.11.3502` Denegri et al. 2001 identified stress-induced nuclear bodies as sites that accumulate pre-mRNA processing factors in heat-shocked human cells.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:9606 Homo sapiens — VARIABLE: Human heat-shocked cells form HSF1-positive nuclear stress granules at satellite III repeats on chromosome 9 heterochromatin. [DOI:10.1083/jcb.200109018]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:9606 Homo sapiens — Human cultured cells were used to connect HSF1-positive nuclear stress granules with RNA polymerase II transcription of satellite III repeats during heat shock. [DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104]

Functions

stress-induced satellite III RNP organization — Nuclear stress granules assemble on satellite III repeats in heat-shocked human cells, retain satellite III repeat RNAs and accumulate pre-mRNA processing factors.
- DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104 Jolly et al. 2004 showed that satellite III RNAs are transcribed in HSF1-containing nuclear stress granules and remain associated with the 9q12 region.
- DOI:10.1101/cshperspect.a000695 Biamonti and Vourc'h 2010 reviewed nuclear stress bodies as heat-shock-induced subnuclear organelles formed on satellite III arrays.

Mechanism graphs

HSF1 and satellite III RNAs organize nuclear stress granules (ASSEMBLY)

In heat-shocked human cells, HSF1 binds satellite III repeats, satellite III repeats are transcribed into RNAs retained at the locus, and pre-mRNA processing factors accumulate in the resulting nuclear stress granule.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
heat shock factor 1	binds	satellite III repeats	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200109018` Jolly et al. 2002 mapped HSF1 granules to human 9q11-q12 and showed direct HSF1 binding to satellite III repeats.
satellite III repeats	are transcribed into	satellite III stress-induced RNA	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104` Jolly et al. 2004 identified nuclear stress granules as RNA polymerase II transcription factories for satellite III repeats.
satellite III stress-induced RNA	is retained in	nuclear stress granule	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104` Jolly et al. 2004 found that satellite III RNAs remain associated with the 9q12 region where nuclear stress granules form.
pre-mRNA processing factor cohort	accumulates in	nuclear stress granule	`DOI:10.1091/mbc.12.11.3502` Denegri et al. 2001 identified heat-shock stress-induced nuclear bodies as sites of pre-mRNA processing factor accumulation.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact source-neutral RNA and protein-family boundaries for HSF1, stress-induced satellite III RNAs, SR proteins, SAFB and other hnRNP or pre-mRNA-processing factors in nuclear stress granules. This first nuclear-stress-granule record captures HSF1, HSATIII RNA and pre-mRNA processing factors as label-only resident components while leaving exact HSF1 family grounding, satellite repeat transcript typing, and the full SR-protein and hnRNP cohort to a later curation pass.

Evidence

GO:0097165 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for nuclear stress granule.
GO:0140168 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for nuclear ribonucleoprotein granule.
GO:0016604 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for nuclear body.
GO:0031981 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for nuclear lumen.
DOI:10.1083/jcb.200109018 Jolly, Konecny, Grady and colleagues 2002, In vivo binding of active heat shock transcription factor 1 to human chromosome 9 heterochromatin during stress, Journal of Cell Biology.
DOI:10.1083/jcb.200306104 Jolly, Metz, Govin and colleagues 2004, Stress-induced transcription of satellite III repeats, Journal of Cell Biology.
DOI:10.1091/mbc.12.11.3502 Denegri et al. 2001, Stress-induced Nuclear Bodies Are Sites of Accumulation of pre-mRNA Processing Factors, Molecular Biology of the Cell.
DOI:10.1101/cshperspect.a000695 Biamonti and Vourc'h 2010, Nuclear Stress Bodies, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology.

Curation history

2026-09-28T01:27:41Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-28T01:29:04Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added nuclear-stress-granule synonymy, GO parentage and nuclear-lumen parthood, label-only HSF1, satellite III RNA and pre-mRNA-processing-factor components, Homo sapiens heat-shock scope, DOI/GO evidence, a nonmechanistic assembly graph and a component-boundary TODO.
2026-09-28T01:45:13Z codex · RESOLVED_REVIEW — Resolved #1695 by removing HSATIII from the satellite III RNA component gene_symbols slot so the repeat transcript label remains only in label-only curation text.

Source: data/structures/ribonucleoprotein/nuclear_stress_granule.yaml