Nucleolin (NCL), a eukaryotic nucleolar phosphoprotein, is involved in the synthesis and maturation of ribosomes. It is located mainly in dense fibrillar regions of the nucleolus. Human NCL gene consists of 14 exons with 13 introns and spans approximately 11kb. The intron 11 of the NCL gene encodes a small nucleolar RNA, termed U20. Nucleolin is the major nucleolar protein of growing eukaryotic cells. It is found associated with intranucleolar chromatin and pre-ribosomal particles. It induces chromatin decondensation by binding to histone H1. It is thought to play a role in pre-rRNA transcription and ribosome assembly. May play a role in the process of transcriptional elongation. Binds RNA oligonucleotides with 5'-UUAGGG-3' repeats more tightly than the telomeric single-stranded DNA 5'-TTAGGG-3' repeats.