In molecular biology, Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are a class of small RNA molecules that primarily guide chemical modifications of other RNAs, mainly ribosomal RNAs, transfer RNAs and small nuclear RNAs. There are two main classes of snoRNA, the C/D box snoRNAs, which are associated with methylation, and the H/ACA box snoRNAs, which are associated with pseudouridylation. SnoRNAs are commonly referred to as guide RNAs but should not be confused with the guide RNAs that direct RNA editing in trypanosomes. snoRNA guided modifications After transcription, nascent rRNA molecules (termed pre-rRNA) undergo a series of processing steps to generate the mature rRNA molecule. Prior to cleavage by exo- and endonucleases, the pre-rRNA undergoes a complex pattern of nucleoside modifications. These include methylations and pseudouridylations, guided by snoRNAs. Methylation is the attachment or substitution of a methyl group onto various substrates. The rRNA of humans contain approximately 115 methyl group modifications. The majority of these are 2′O-ribose-methylations (where the methyl group is attached to the ribose group). Pseudouridylation is the conversion (isomerisation) of the nucleoside uridine to a different isomeric form pseudouridine (Ψ). This modification consists of a 180º rotation of the uridine base around its glycosyl bond to the ribose of the RNA backbone. After this rotation, the nitrogenous base contributes a carbon atom to the glycosyl bond instead of the usual nitrogen atom. The beneficial aspect of this modification is the additional hydrogen-bond donor available on the base. While uridine makes two hydrogen-bonds with its Watson-Crick base pair, adenine, pseudouridine is capable of making three hydrogen bonds. When pseudouridine is base-paired with adenine, it can also make another hydrogen bond, allowing the complexity of the mature rRNA structure to take form. The free hydrogen-bond donor often forms a bond with a base that is distant from itself, creating the tertiary structure that rRNA must have to be functional. Mature human rRNAs contain approximately 95 Ψ modifications. Each snoRNA molecule acts as a guide for only one (or two) individual modifications in a target RNA. In order to carry out modification, each snoRNA associates with at least four core proteins in an RNA/protein complex referred to as a small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein particle (snoRNP). The proteins associated with each RNA depend on the type of snoRNA molecule (see snoRNA guide families below). The snoRNA molecule contains an antisense element (a stretch of 10–20 nucleotides), which are base complementary to the sequence surrounding