paraspeckles

GO:0042382 · Ribonucleoprotein · Other · Proposed

Discrete subnuclear bodies in the interchromatin nucleoplasmic space, often located adjacent to nuclear specks. 10-20 paraspeckles are typically found in human cell nuclei. [GO:0042382]

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	Stoichiometry	Essential	Role
NEAT1 lncRNA	Rna	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	NEAT1		ESSENTIAL	Architectural long noncoding RNA scaffold that is required for visible paraspeckle structure. `DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.01.026` Clemson et al. 2009 showed that NEAT1 RNA is essential for paraspeckle structure. `DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2018.05.019` Yamazaki et al. 2018 mapped functional domains of NEAT1 that induce paraspeckle assembly through phase separation.
DBHS paraspeckle proteins	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	NONO, SFPQ, PSPC1		UNKNOWN	RNA-binding DBHS-family proteins that associate with NEAT1 and support paraspeckle integrity. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.200906113` Bond and Fox 2009 reviewed SFPQ/PSF, NONO/p54nrb and PSPC1 as core paraspeckle proteins that associate with NEAT1.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:9606 Homo sapiens — COMMON: GO:0042382 defines paraspeckles as discrete subnuclear bodies in the interchromatin nucleoplasmic space and notes that 10-20 paraspeckles are typically found in human cell nuclei. [GO:0042382]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:9606 Homo sapiens — Human cells were used to test the architectural role of NEAT1 RNA in paraspeckle structure. [DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.01.026]

Functions

nuclear RNA retention — Paraspeckles are NEAT1-built nuclear bodies associated with retention of selected RNAs in the nucleus.
- DOI:10.1083/jcb.200906113 Bond and Fox 2009 reviewed paraspeckles in relation to nuclear retention of RNA.
- DOI:10.1016/j.tibs.2017.12.001 Fox et al. 2018 reviewed paraspeckles as long-noncoding-RNA nuclear bodies assembled through phase separation.

Mechanism graphs

NEAT1 and DBHS proteins assemble paraspeckles (ASSEMBLY)

Paraspeckles are nuclear ribonucleoprotein granules scaffolded by NEAT1 lncRNA and DBHS-family RNA-binding proteins.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
NEAT1 lncRNA	scaffolds	paraspeckles	`DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.01.026` Clemson et al. 2009 found that NEAT1 RNA is required for paraspeckle structure.
DBHS paraspeckle proteins	associate with	NEAT1 lncRNA	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200906113` Bond and Fox 2009 reviewed the association of core DBHS paraspeckle proteins with NEAT1.
NEAT1 lncRNA	promotes	paraspeckle assembly	`DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2018.05.019` Yamazaki et al. 2018 mapped NEAT1 domains that induce paraspeckle assembly through phase separation.
DBHS paraspeckle proteins	maintain integrity of	paraspeckles	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200906113` Bond and Fox 2009 reviewed core DBHS paraspeckle proteins in the context of NEAT1 association and paraspeckle integrity.
paraspeckles	are associated with	nuclear RNA retention	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.200906113` Bond and Fox 2009 reviewed paraspeckle nuclear bodies in relation to RNA nuclear retention.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact source-neutral RNA and protein-family boundaries for NEAT1 isoforms, DBHS proteins, FUS, RBM14 and other paraspeckle assembly factors. This first paraspeckles record keeps NEAT1 and DBHS-family proteins as broad, label-only component cohorts while leaving exact NEAT1 isoform boundaries and NONO/SFPQ/PSPC1/FUS/RBM14 family grounding to a separate curation pass.

Evidence

GO:0042382 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for paraspeckles.
GO:0140168 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for nuclear ribonucleoprotein granule.
GO:0031981 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for nuclear lumen.
DOI:10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00632-7 Fox et al. 2002, Paraspeckles: a novel nuclear domain, Current Biology.
DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.01.026 Clemson et al. 2009, An architectural role for a nuclear noncoding RNA: NEAT1 RNA is essential for the structure of paraspeckles, Molecular Cell.
DOI:10.1083/jcb.200906113 Bond and Fox 2009, Paraspeckles: nuclear bodies built on long noncoding RNA, Journal of Cell Biology.
DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2018.05.019 Yamazaki et al. 2018, Functional domains of NEAT1 architectural lncRNA induce paraspeckle assembly through phase separation, Molecular Cell.
DOI:10.1016/j.tibs.2017.12.001 Fox, Nakagawa, Hirose and Bond 2018, Paraspeckles: where long noncoding RNA meets phase separation, Trends in Biochemical Sciences.

Curation history

2026-09-27T22:38:19Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-27T22:39:24Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO paraspeckles parentage and nuclear-lumen parthood, NEAT1 and DBHS label-only components, Homo sapiens distribution and example curation, nuclear-RNA-retention function evidence, DOI/GO evidence, a nonmechanistic NEAT1/DBHS assembly graph and a component-grounding TODO.
2026-09-27T22:52:51Z codex · RESOLVED_REVIEW — Resolved #1685 by removing the Hennig 2015 citation from the DBHS component and DBHS graph edge; resolved #1686 by narrowing the Homo sapiens taxonomic and canonical-example notes to the claims supported by their cited references.

Source: data/structures/ribonucleoprotein/paraspeckles.yaml