scholarly journals Small RNAs reveal two target sites of the RNA-maturation factor Mbb1 in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 3286-3297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Loizeau ◽  
Yujiao Qu ◽  
Sébastien Depp ◽  
Vincent Fiechter ◽  
Hannes Ruwe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Rnas ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Chloroplast Transformation ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Tetratricopeptide Repeat ◽  
Messenger Rnas ◽  
Mrna Accumulation ◽  
Cis Acting

Abstract Many chloroplast transcripts are protected against exonucleolytic degradation by RNA-binding proteins. Such interactions can lead to the accumulation of short RNAs (sRNAs) that represent footprints of the protein partner. By mining existing data sets of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii small RNAs, we identify chloroplast sRNAs. Two of these correspond to the 5′-ends of the mature psbB and psbH messenger RNAs (mRNAs), which are both stabilized by the nucleus-encoded protein Mbb1, a member of the tetratricopeptide repeat family. Accordingly, we find that the two sRNAs are absent from the mbb1 mutant. Using chloroplast transformation and site-directed mutagenesis to survey the psbB 5′ UTR, we identify a cis-acting element that is essential for mRNA accumulation. This sequence is also found in the 5′ UTR of psbH, where it plays a role in RNA processing. The two sRNAs are centered on these cis-acting elements. Furthermore, RNA binding assays in vitro show that Mbb1 associates with the two elements specifically. Taken together, our data identify a conserved cis-acting element at the extremity of the psbH and psbB 5′ UTRs that plays a role in the processing and stability of the respective mRNAs through interactions with the tetratricopeptide repeat protein Mbb1 and leads to the accumulation of protected sRNAs.

scholarly journals Pseudouridine synthases modify human pre-mRNA co-transcriptionally and affect splicing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Martinez ◽  
Amanda Su ◽  
Julia K. Nussbacher ◽  
Margaret C. Burns ◽  
Cassandra Schaening ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Splicing ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Rna Modification ◽  
Messenger Rnas ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Pseudouridine Synthases ◽  
In Cells

AbstractEukaryotic messenger RNAs are extensively decorated with modified nucleotides and the resulting epitranscriptome plays important regulatory roles in cells 1. Pseudouridine (Ψ) is a modified nucleotide that is prevalent in human mRNAs and can be dynamically regulated 2–5. However, it is unclear when in their life cycle RNAs become pseudouridylated and what the endogenous functions of mRNA pseudouridylation are. To determine if pseudouridine is added co-transcriptionally, we conducted pseudouridine profiling 2 on chromatin-associated RNA to reveal thousands of intronic pseudouridines in nascent pre-mRNA at locations that are significantly associated with alternatively spliced exons, enriched near splice sites, and overlap hundreds of binding sites for regulatory RNA binding proteins. Multiple distinct pseudouridine synthases with tissue-specific expression pseudouridylate pre-mRNA sites, and genetic manipulation of the predominant pre-mRNA modifying pseudouridine synthases PUS1, PUS7 and RPUSD4 induced widespread changes in alternative splicing in cells, supporting a role for pre-mRNA pseudouridylation in alternative splicing regulation. Consistently, we find that individual pseudouridines identified in cells are sufficient to directly affect splicing in vitro. Together with previously observed effects of artificial pseudouridylation on RNA-RNA6–8 and RNA-protein 9–11 interactions that are relevant for splicing, our results demonstrate widespread co-transcriptional pre-mRNA pseudouridylation and establish the enormous potential for this RNA modification to control human gene expression.

scholarly journals Comprehensive landscape and future perspectives of circular RNAs in colorectal cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Long ◽  
Zhi Lin ◽  
Liang Li ◽  
Min Ma ◽  
Zhixing Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Circular Rnas ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
Cis Acting ◽  
New Class ◽  
Functional Peptides ◽  
Mirna Sponges

AbstractColorectal cancer (CRC) is a common hereditary tumor that is often fatal. Its pathogenesis involves multiple genes, including circular RNAs (circRNAs). Notably, circRNAs constitute a new class of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) with a covalently closed loop structure and have been characterized as stable, conserved molecules that are abundantly expressed in tissue/development-specific patterns in eukaryotes. Based on accumulating evidence, circRNAs are aberrantly expressed in CRC tissues, cells, exosomes, and blood from patients with CRC. Moreover, numerous circRNAs have been identified as either oncogenes or tumor suppressors that mediate tumorigenesis, metastasis and chemoradiation resistance in CRC. Although the regulatory mechanisms of circRNA biogenesis and functions remain fairly elusive, interesting results have been obtained in studies investigating CRC. In particular, the expression of circRNAs in CRC is comprehensively modulated by multiple factors, such as splicing factors, transcription factors, specific enzymes and cis-acting elements. More importantly, circRNAs exert pivotal effects on CRC through various mechanisms, including acting as miRNA sponges or decoys, interacting with RNA binding proteins, and even translating functional peptides. Finally, circRNAs may serve as promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets in the clinical practice of CRC. In this review, we discuss the dysregulation, functions and clinical significance of circRNAs in CRC and further discuss the molecular mechanisms by which circRNAs exert their functions and how their expression is regulated. Based on this review, we hope to reveal the functions of circRNAs in the initiation and progression of cancer and highlight the future perspectives on strategies targeting circRNAs in cancer research.

scholarly journals Multimerization of Hepatitis Delta Antigen Is a Critical Determinant of RNA Binding Specificity

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 1406-1413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Lin ◽  
Dawn A. Defenbaugh ◽  
John L. Casey
Keyword(s):  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Minimum Length ◽  
Critical Determinant ◽  
Hepatitis Delta ◽  
Ribonucleoprotein Complex ◽  
Delta Antigen ◽  
Hepatitis Delta Antigen

ABSTRACT Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA forms an unbranched rod structure that is associated with hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg) in cells replicating HDV. Previous in vitro binding experiments using bacterially expressed HDAg showed that the formation of a minimal ribonucleoprotein complex requires an HDV unbranched rod RNA of at least about 300 nucleotides (nt) and suggested that HDAg binds the RNA as a multimer of fixed size. The present study specifically examines the role of HDAg multimerization in the formation of the HDV ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP). Disruption of HDAg multimerization by site-directed mutagenesis was found to profoundly alter the nature of RNP formation. Mutant HDAg proteins defective for multimerization exhibited neither the 300-nt RNA size requirement for binding nor specificity for the unbranched rod structure. The results unambiguously demonstrate that HDAg binds HDV RNA as a multimer and that the HDAg multimer is formed prior to binding the RNA. RNP formation was found to be temperature dependent, which is consistent with conformational changes occurring on binding. Finally, analysis of RNPs constructed with unbranched rod RNAs successively longer than the minimum length indicated that multimeric binding is not limited to the first HDAg bound and that a minimum RNA length of between 604 and 714 nt is required for binding of a second multimer. The results confirm the previous proposal that HDAg binds as a large multimer and demonstrate that the multimer is a critical determinant of the structure of the HDV RNP.

The Drosophila suppressor of sable gene encodes a polypeptide with regions similar to those of RNA-binding proteins

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 894-905
Author(s):  
R A Voelker ◽  
W Gibson ◽  
J P Graves ◽  
J F Sterling ◽  
M T Eisenberg
Keyword(s):  
Rna Processing ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
In Vitro Translation ◽  
Rna Recognition Motif ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Cdna Sequences ◽  
Suppressor Of Sable

The nucleotide sequence of the Drosophila melanogaster suppressor of sable [su(s)] gene has been determined. Comparison of genomic and cDNA sequences indicates that an approximately 7,860-nucleotide primary transcript is processed into an approximately 5-kb message, expressed during all stages of the life cycle, that contains an open reading frame capable of encoding a 1,322-amino-acid protein of approximately 150 kDa. The putative protein contains an RNA recognition motif-like region and a highly charged arginine-, lysine-, serine-, aspartic or glutamic acid-rich region that is similar to a region contained in several RNA-processing proteins. In vitro translation of in vitro-transcribed RNA from a complete cDNA yields a product whose size agrees with the size predicted by the open reading frame. Antisera against su(s) fusion proteins recognize the in vitro-translated protein and detect a protein of identical size in the nuclear fractions from tissue culture cells and embryos. The protein is also present in smaller amounts in cytoplasmic fractions of embryos. That the su(s) protein has regions similar in structure to RNA-processing protein is consistent with its known role in affecting the transcript levels of those alleles that it suppresses.

scholarly journals Identification of mRNAs Associated with αCP2-Containing RNP Complexes

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (19) ◽  
pp. 7055-7067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly A. Waggoner ◽  
Stephen A. Liebhaber
Keyword(s):  
Binding Proteins ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Translation Control ◽  
Viral Mrnas ◽  
Posttranscriptional Gene Regulation ◽  
Direct Binding

ABSTRACT Posttranscriptional controls in higher eukaryotes are central to cell differentiation and developmental programs. These controls reflect sequence-specific interactions of mRNAs with one or more RNA binding proteins. The α-globin poly(C) binding proteins (αCPs) comprise a highly abundant subset of K homology (KH) domain RNA binding proteins and have a characteristic preference for binding single-stranded C-rich motifs. αCPs have been implicated in translation control and stabilization of multiple cellular and viral mRNAs. To explore the full contribution of αCPs to cell function, we have identified a set of mRNAs that associate in vivo with the major αCP2 isoforms. One hundred sixty mRNA species were consistently identified in three independent analyses of αCP2-RNP complexes immunopurified from a human hematopoietic cell line (K562). These mRNAs could be grouped into subsets encoding cytoskeletal components, transcription factors, proto-oncogenes, and cell signaling factors. Two mRNAs were linked to ceroid lipofuscinosis, indicating a potential role for αCP2 in this infantile neurodegenerative disease. Surprisingly, αCP2 mRNA itself was represented in αCP2-RNP complexes, suggesting autoregulatory control of αCP2 expression. In vitro analyses of representative target mRNAs confirmed direct binding of αCP2 within their 3′ untranslated regions. These data expand the list of mRNAs that associate with αCP2 in vivo and establish a foundation for modeling its role in coordinating pathways of posttranscriptional gene regulation.

scholarly journals Function of Pumilio Genes in Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Their Effect in Stemness and Cardiomyogenesis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Leticia Zaboroski Silva ◽  
Anny Waloski Robert ◽  
Guillermo Cabrera Cabo ◽  
Lucia Spangenberg ◽  
Marco Augusto Stimamiglio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem Cells ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Human Escs ◽  
Mrna Targets ◽  
Cardiomyogenic Differentiation

AbstractPosttranscriptional regulation plays a fundamental role in the biology of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Many studies have demonstrated that multiple mRNAs are coregulated by one or more RNA binding proteins (RBPs) that orchestrate the expression of these molecules. A family of RBPs, known as PUF (Pumilio-FBF), is highly conserved among species and has been associated with the undifferentiated and differentiated states of different cell lines. In humans, two homologs of the PUF family have been found: Pumilio 1 (PUM1) and Pumilio 2 (PUM2). To understand the role of these proteins in human ESCs (hESCs), we first demonstrated the influence of the silencing of PUM1 and PUM2 on pluripotency genes. OCT4 and NANOG mRNA levels decreased significantly with the knockdown of Pumilio, suggesting that PUMILIO proteins play a role in the maintenance of pluripotency in hESCs. Furthermore, we observed that the hESCs silenced for PUM1 and 2 exhibited an improvement in efficiency of in vitro cardiomyogenic differentiation. Using in silico analysis, we identified mRNA targets of PUM1 and PUM2 expressed during cardiomyogenesis. With the reduction of PUM1 and 2, these target mRNAs would be active and could be involved in the progression of cardiomyogenesis.

scholarly journals SSMART: Sequence-structure motif identification for RNA-binding proteins

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Munteanu ◽  
Neelanjan Mukherjee ◽  
Uwe Ohler
Keyword(s):  
Binding Sites ◽  
Binding Proteins ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Sequence Motif ◽  
Primary Sequence ◽  
Sequence Structure ◽  
Rna Targets

AbstractMotivationRNA-binding proteins (RBPs) regulate every aspect of RNA metabolism and function. There are hundreds of RBPs encoded in the eukaryotic genomes, and each recognize its RNA targets through a specific mixture of RNA sequence and structure properties. For most RBPs, however, only a primary sequence motif has been determined, while the structure of the binding sites is uncharacterized.ResultsWe developed SSMART, an RNA motif finder that simultaneously models the primary sequence and the structural properties of the RNA targets sites. The sequence-structure motifs are represented as consensus strings over a degenerate alphabet, extending the IUPAC codes for nucleotides to account for secondary structure preferences. Evaluation on synthetic data showed that SSMART is able to recover both sequence and structure motifs implanted into 3‘UTR-like sequences, for various degrees of structured/unstructured binding sites. In addition, we successfully used SSMART on high-throughput in vivo and in vitro data, showing that we not only recover the known sequence motif, but also gain insight into the structural preferences of the RBP.AvailabilitySSMART is freely available at https://ohlerlab.mdc-berlin.de/software/SSMART_137/[email protected]

scholarly journals Distinct expression of select and transcriptome-wide isolated 3’UTRs suggests critical roles in development and transition states

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoyi Ji ◽  
Ze Yang ◽  
Leonardi Gozali ◽  
Thomas Kenney ◽  
Arif Kocabas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Ontology ◽  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Coding Region ◽  
Proliferating Cells ◽  
Coding Regions ◽  
Micro Rnas

AbstractMature mRNA molecules are typically considered to be comprised of a 5’UTR, a 3’UTR and a coding region (CDS), all attached until degradation. Unexpectedly, however, there have been multiple recent reports of widespread differential expression of mRNA 3’UTRs and their cognate coding regions, resulting in the expression of isolated 3’UTRs (i3’UTRs); these i3’UTRs can be highly expressed, often in reciprocal patterns to their cognate CDS. Similar to the role of other lncRNAs, isolated 3’UTRs are likely to play an important role in gene regulation but little is known about the contexts in which they are deployed. To begin to parse the functions of i3’UTRs, here we carry out in vitro, in vivo and in silico analyses of differential 3’UTR/CDS mRNA ratio usage across tissues, development and cell state changes both for a select list of developmentally important genes as well as through unbiased transcriptome-wide analyses. Across two developmental paradigms we find a distinct switch from high i3’UTR expression of stem cell related genes in proliferating cells compared to newly differentiated cells. Our unbiased transcriptome analysis across multiple gene sets shows that regardless of tissue, genes with high 3’UTR to CDS ratios belong predominantly to gene ontology categories related to cell-type specific functions while in contrast, the gene ontology categories of genes with low 3’UTR to CDS ratios are similar and relate to common cellular functions. In addition to these specific findings our data provide critical information from which detailed hypotheses for individual i3’UTRs can be tested-with a common theme that i3’UTRs appear poised to regulate cell-specific gene expression and state.Significance StatementThe widespread existence and expression of mRNA 3’ untranslated sequences in the absence of their cognate coding regions (called isolated 3’UTRs or i3’UTRs) opens up considerable avenues for gene regulation not previously envisioned. Each isolated 3’UTR may still bind and interact with micro RNAs, RNA binding proteins as well as other nucleic acid sequences, all in the absence or low levels of cognate protein production. Here we document the expression, localization and regulation of i3’UTRs both within particular biological systems as well as across the transcriptome. As this is an entirely new area of experimental investigation these early studies are seminal to this burgeoning field.

scholarly journals Coupled Transcription-Translation in Prokaryotes: An Old Couple With New Surprises

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikel Irastortza-Olaziregi ◽  
Orna Amster-Choder
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Rna Localization ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Independent Manner ◽  
New Information ◽  
Shed Light

Coupled transcription-translation (CTT) is a hallmark of prokaryotic gene expression. CTT occurs when ribosomes associate with and initiate translation of mRNAs whose transcription has not yet concluded, therefore forming “RNAP.mRNA.ribosome” complexes. CTT is a well-documented phenomenon that is involved in important gene regulation processes, such as attenuation and operon polarity. Despite the progress in our understanding of the cellular signals that coordinate CTT, certain aspects of its molecular architecture remain controversial. Additionally, new information on the spatial segregation between the transcriptional and the translational machineries in certain species, and on the capability of certain mRNAs to localize translation-independently, questions the unanimous occurrence of CTT. Furthermore, studies where transcription and translation were artificially uncoupled showed that transcription elongation can proceed in a translation-independent manner. Here, we review studies supporting the occurrence of CTT and findings questioning its extent, as well as discuss mechanisms that may explain both coupling and uncoupling, e.g., chromosome relocation and the involvement of cis- or trans-acting elements, such as small RNAs and RNA-binding proteins. These mechanisms impact RNA localization, stability, and translation. Understanding the two options by which genes can be expressed and their consequences should shed light on a new layer of control of bacterial transcripts fate.

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