DRBD3 regulates long non-coding RNA abundance and cryptic splice site selection in trypanosomes.

ABSTRACT: Trypanosomes are unicellular eukaryotes that rely heavily on post-transcriptional mechanisms to control gene expression. DRBD3 is an RNA-binding protein known to play important roles in mRNA processing, stability, transport and translation. It was found to associate with grumpy, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) recently characterized in Trypanosoma brucei. Here, we explore the role of DRBD3 in lncRNA metabolism and show that its depletion leads to the upregulation of a specific subset of approximately one hundred lncRNAs in both bloodstream and procyclic forms, likely through the activation of cryptic splice sites. The effect of DRBD3 depletion on lncRNA expression appears to be mostly indirect, and results from reduced levels of the poly(A) polymerase PAP1 following DRBD3 silencing. In addi

SUBMITTER: Ceballos-Perez G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12592628 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature