scholarly journals Transposable element-derived sequences in vertebrate development

Mobile DNA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ema Etchegaray ◽  
Magali Naville ◽  
Jean-Nicolas Volff ◽  
Zofia Haftek-Terreau

AbstractTransposable elements (TEs) are major components of all vertebrate genomes that can cause deleterious insertions and genomic instability. However, depending on the specific genomic context of their insertion site, TE sequences can sometimes get positively selected, leading to what are called “exaptation” events. TE sequence exaptation constitutes an important source of novelties for gene, genome and organism evolution, giving rise to new regulatory sequences, protein-coding exons/genes and non-coding RNAs, which can play various roles beneficial to the host. In this review, we focus on the development of vertebrates, which present many derived traits such as bones, adaptive immunity and a complex brain. We illustrate how TE-derived sequences have given rise to developmental innovations in vertebrates and how they thereby contributed to the evolutionary success of this lineage.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu H. Sun ◽  
Ruoqiao Huiyi Wang ◽  
Khai Du ◽  
Jiang Zhu ◽  
Jihong Zheng ◽  
...  

AbstractPIWI-interacting small RNAs (piRNAs) protect the germline genome and are essential for fertility. piRNAs originate from transposable element (TE) RNAs, long non-coding RNAs, or 3´ untranslated regions (3´UTRs) of protein-coding messenger genes, with the last being the least characterized of the three piRNA classes. Here, we demonstrate that the precursors of 3´UTR piRNAs are full-length mRNAs and that post-termination 80S ribosomes guide piRNA production on 3´UTRs in mice and chickens. At the pachytene stage, when other co-translational RNA surveillance pathways are sequestered, piRNA biogenesis degrades mRNAs right after pioneer rounds of translation and fine-tunes protein production from mRNAs. Although 3´UTR piRNA precursor mRNAs code for distinct proteins in mice and chickens, they all harbor embedded TEs and produce piRNAs that cleave TEs. Altogether, we discover a function of the piRNA pathway in fine-tuning protein production and reveal a conserved piRNA biogenesis mechanism that recognizes translating RNAs in amniotes.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ninad Oak ◽  
Rajarshi Ghosh ◽  
Sharon E. Plon

AbstractMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the most abundant class of non-coding RNAs that regulate expression of >60% genes and are frequently deregulated in many human diseases. Sequence variants in miRNAs are expected to have a high impact on miRNA function. However, the lack of miRNA variant annotation and prioritization guidelines has hampered this analysis from whole genome/exome sequencing (WGS/WES) studies. Through the development of an Annotative Database of miRNA Elements, ADmiRE workflow, we re-annotated the publicly available population dataset of gnomAD 15,596 WGS and 123,136 WES and describe 26,094 precursor-miRNA variants. AdmiRE annotates twice the miRNA variants predicted by existing tools which prioritize variation relative to protein coding regions. We provide the allele frequency distribution of miRNA variation which is comparable to variation in exonic regions. This distribution is similar for miRNAs located in the intragenic and intergenic genomic context. Moreover, ‘high confidence’ miRNAs (designated by miRBase) harbor less variation (the majority contributed by rare variants) compared with the remaining miRNAs. We identify 279 miRNAs highly constrained with little or no variation in gnomAD. We further describe the evolutionary conservation of miRNAs across 100 vertebrates and identify 434 highly conserved miRNAs. We demonstrate that these constraint and conservation metrics (now incorporated into the ADmiRE workflow) characterize miRNAs previously implicated in human diseases. In conclusion, through the development of ADmiRE, we comprehensively analyze the landscape of miRNA sequence variation in large human population datasets and provide miRNA vertebrate conservation scores to aid future studies of miRNA variation in human diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Garima Bhatia ◽  
Santosh K. Upadhyay ◽  
Anuradha Upadhyay ◽  
Kashmir Singh

Abstract Background Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulatory transcripts of length > 200 nt. Owing to the rapidly progressing RNA-sequencing technologies, lncRNAs are emerging as considerable nodes in the plant antifungal defense networks. Therefore, we investigated their role in Vitis vinifera (grapevine) in response to obligate biotrophic fungal phytopathogens, Erysiphe necator (powdery mildew, PM) and Plasmopara viticola (downy mildew, DM), which impose huge agro-economic burden on grape-growers worldwide. Results Using computational approach based on RNA-seq data, 71 PM- and 83 DM-responsive V. vinifera lncRNAs were identified and comprehensively examined for their putative functional roles in plant defense response. V. vinifera protein coding sequences (CDS) were also profiled based on expression levels, and 1037 PM-responsive and 670 DM-responsive CDS were identified. Next, co-expression analysis-based functional annotation revealed their association with gene ontology (GO) terms for ‘response to stress’, ‘response to biotic stimulus’, ‘immune system process’, etc. Further investigation based on analysis of domains, enzyme classification, pathways enrichment, transcription factors (TFs), interactions with microRNAs (miRNAs), and real-time quantitative PCR of lncRNAs and co-expressing CDS pairs suggested their involvement in modulation of basal and specific defense responses such as: Ca2+-dependent signaling, cell wall reinforcement, reactive oxygen species metabolism, pathogenesis related proteins accumulation, phytohormonal signal transduction, and secondary metabolism. Conclusions Overall, the identified lncRNAs provide insights into the underlying intricacy of grapevine transcriptional reprogramming/post-transcriptional regulation to delay or seize the living cell-dependent pathogen growth. Therefore, in addition to defense-responsive genes such as TFs, the identified lncRNAs can be further examined and leveraged to candidates for biotechnological improvement/breeding to enhance fungal stress resistance in this susceptible fruit crop of economic and nutritional importance.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart J Newfeld ◽  
Richard W Padgett ◽  
Seth D Findley ◽  
Brent G Richter ◽  
Michele Sanicola ◽  
...  

Using an elaborate set of cis-regulatory sequences, the decapentaplegic (dpp) gene displays a dynamic pattern of gene expression during development. The C-terminal portion of the DPP protein is processed to generate a secreted signaling molecule belonging to the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) family. This signal, the DPP ligand, is able to influence the developmental fates of responsive cells in a concentration-dependent fashion. Here we examine the sequence level organization of a significant portion of the dpp locus in Drosophila melanogaster and use interspecific comparisons with D. simulans, D. pseudoobscura and D.virilis to explore the molecular evolution of the gene. Our interspecific analysis identified significant selective constraint on both the nucleotide and amino acid sequences. As expected, interspecific comparison of protein coding sequences shows that the C-terminal ligand region is highly conserved. However, the central portion of the protein is also conserved, while the N-terminal third is quite variable. Comparison of noncoding regions reveals significant stretches of nucleotide identity in the 3′ untranslated portion of exon 3 and in the intron between exons 2 and 3. An examination of cDNA sequences representing five classes of dpp transcripts indicates that these transcripts encode the same polypeptide.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 3151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Piergentili ◽  
Simona Zaami ◽  
Anna Franca Cavaliere ◽  
Fabrizio Signore ◽  
Giovanni Scambia ◽  
...  

Endometrial cancer (EC) has been classified over the years, for prognostic and therapeutic purposes. In recent years, classification systems have been emerging not only based on EC clinical and pathological characteristics but also on its genetic and epigenetic features. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are emerging as promising markers in several cancer types, including EC, for which their prognostic value is currently under investigation and will likely integrate the present prognostic tools based on protein coding genes. This review aims to underline the importance of the genetic and epigenetic events in the EC tumorigenesis, by expounding upon the prognostic role of ncRNAs.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Webb ◽  
Audrey C. Papp ◽  
Amanda Curtis ◽  
Leslie C. Newman ◽  
Maciej Pietrzak ◽  
...  

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 692
Author(s):  
Sweta Talyan ◽  
Samantha Filipów ◽  
Michael Ignarski ◽  
Magdalena Smieszek ◽  
He Chen ◽  
...  

Diseases of the renal filtration unit—the glomerulus—are the most common cause of chronic kidney disease. Podocytes are the pivotal cell type for the function of this filter and focal-segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a classic example of a podocytopathy leading to proteinuria and glomerular scarring. Currently, no targeted treatment of FSGS is available. This lack of therapeutic strategies is explained by a limited understanding of the defects in podocyte cell biology leading to FSGS. To date, most studies in the field have focused on protein-coding genes and their gene products. However, more than 80% of all transcripts produced by mammalian cells are actually non-coding. Here, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a relatively novel class of transcripts and have not been systematically studied in FSGS to date. The appropriate tools to facilitate lncRNA research for the renal scientific community are urgently required due to a row of challenges compared to classical analysis pipelines optimized for coding RNA expression analysis. Here, we present the bioinformatic pipeline CALINCA as a solution for this problem. CALINCA automatically analyzes datasets from murine FSGS models and quantifies both annotated and de novo assembled lncRNAs. In addition, the tool provides in-depth information on podocyte specificity of these lncRNAs, as well as evolutionary conservation and expression in human datasets making this pipeline a crucial basis to lncRNA studies in FSGS.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1821-1825
Author(s):  
K A Kelley ◽  
J W Chamberlain ◽  
J A Nolan ◽  
A L Horwich ◽  
F Kalousek ◽  
...  

In an attempt to use mouse metallothionein-I (mMT-I) regulatory sequences to direct expression of human ornithine transcarbamylase in the liver of transgenic animals, fusion genes joining either 1.6 kilobases or 185 base pairs of the mMT-I regulatory region to the human ornithine transcarbamylase protein-coding sequence were used to produce transgenic mice. In mice carrying the fusion gene with 1.6 kilobases of the mMT-I 5'-flanking sequences, transgene expression was observed in a wide range of tissues, but, unexpectedly, expression in liver was never observed. Surprisingly, in mice carrying the fusion gene regulated by only 185 base pairs of the mMT-I 5'-flanking sequences, the transgene was expressed exclusively in male germ cells during the tetraploid, pachytene stage of meiosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyuan Luan ◽  
Yushang Yang ◽  
Shouyue Zhang ◽  
Xiaoxi Zeng ◽  
Xin Xiao ◽  
...  

Abstract   Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a type of transcriptional products with more than 200 nucleotides in length, have been less characterized compared to protein-coding RNAs so far. However, it is increasingly evident that lncRNAs are key players involved in multiple genetic and epigenetic activities during the carcinogenesis of neoplastic diseases. Currently, accumulating data have pointed out the close connection between lncRNAs and esophageal carcinoma (EC), shedding light on further unravelling the complexity of lncRNAs and EC. Methods In this review, we thoroughly collect the evidence regarding original studies on EC-related lncRNAs by searching in MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase and WOS/SCI. We especially focus on summarizing EC-related lncRNAs based upon more updated evidence, and further discuss their different features from various perspectives, including regulatory mechanisms, functional roles in cancer hallmarks, as well as potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications, which would together reveal the complexity of lncRNAs and EC for potential clinical applications. Results We discuss over thirty EC-related lncRNAs in total, most of which function as oncogenes that promote cancer development, while the others function as tumor suppressors. Regulatory mechanisms included sponging miRNAs, direct interaction with proteins, and exosome visicle-based intercellular communication. Based upon these modes of actions, lncRNAs play multiple roles in cancer hallmarks such as uncontrolled cell growth, evasion of programmed cell death, invasion and metastasis. Moreover, lncRNAs packaged in exosomes have unique potency to serve as diagnostic biomarkers; some lncRNAs show great potential to predict patients' chemical resistance and may be crucial targets to improve chemoradiotherapy and targeted therapy. Conclusion Over the past few years, the research of EC-related lncRNAs maintain obviously rapid development, yet further exploration of exact mechanisms and clinical applications that lncRNAs can offer need to be done. Indeed, LncRNAs hold the promise of being applied in multiple clinical scenarios, especially early diagnosis of EC, improvement of sensitivity to chemotherapy/radiotherapy, and development of small-molecule targeted drugs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Klinge

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are regulators of intracellular and intercellular signaling in breast cancer. ncRNAs modulate intracellular signaling to control diverse cellular processes, including levels and activity of estrogen receptor α (ERα), proliferation, invasion, migration, apoptosis, and stemness. In addition, ncRNAs can be packaged into exosomes to provide intercellular communication by the transmission of microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to cells locally or systemically. This review provides an overview of the biogenesis and roles of ncRNAs: small nucleolar RNA (snRNA), circular RNAs (circRNAs), PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), miRNAs, and lncRNAs in breast cancer. Since more is known about the miRNAs and lncRNAs that are expressed in breast tumors, their established targets as oncogenic drivers and tumor suppressors will be reviewed. The focus is on miRNAs and lncRNAs identified in breast tumors, since a number of ncRNAs identified in breast cancer cells are not dysregulated in breast tumors. The identity and putative function of selected lncRNAs increased: nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1), metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), steroid receptor RNA activator 1 (SRA1), colon cancer associated transcript 2 (CCAT2), colorectal neoplasia differentially expressed (CRNDE), myocardial infarction associated transcript (MIAT), and long intergenic non-protein coding RNA, Regulator of Reprogramming (LINC-ROR); and decreased levels of maternally-expressed 3 (MEG3) in breast tumors have been observed as well. miRNAs and lncRNAs are considered targets of therapeutic intervention in breast cancer, but further work is needed to bring the promise of regulating their activities to clinical use.


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