Bioinformatic analysis predicts that ethanol exposure during early development causes alternative splicing alterations of genes involved in RNA post-transcriptional regulation.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal ethanol exposure is associated with neurodevelopmental defects and long-lasting cognitive deficits, which are grouped as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The molecular mechanisms underlying FASD are incompletely characterized. Alternative splicing, including the insertion of microexons (exons of less than 30 nucleotides in length), is highly prevalent in the nervous system. However, whether ethanol exposure can have acute or chronic deleterious effects in this process is poorly understood. In this work, we used the bioinformatic tools VAST-TOOLS, rMATS, MAJIQ, and MicroExonator to predict alternative splicing events affected by ethanol from available RNA sequencing data. Experimental protocols of ethanol exposure included human cortical tissue development, human embryoid b

SUBMITTER: Fuentes-Beals C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10101408 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature