Cartography of neurexin alternative splicing mapped by single-molecule long-read mRNA sequencing.

ABSTRACT: Neurexins are evolutionarily conserved presynaptic cell-adhesion molecules that are essential for normal synapse formation and synaptic transmission. Indirect evidence has indicated that extensive alternative splicing of neurexin mRNAs may produce hundreds if not thousands of neurexin isoforms, but no direct evidence for such diversity has been available. Here we use unbiased long-read sequencing of full-length neurexin (Nrxn)1α, Nrxn1β, Nrxn2β, Nrxn3α, and Nrxn3β mRNAs to systematically assess how many sites of alternative splicing are used in neurexins with a significant frequency, and whether alternative splicing events at these sites are independent of each other. In sequencing more than 25,000 full-length mRNAs, we identified a novel, abundantly used alternatively spliced exon of Nrxn

SUBMITTER: Treutlein B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3977267 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature