Identification and prediction of alternative transcription start sites that generate rod photoreceptor-specific transcripts from ubiquitously expressed genes.

ABSTRACT: Transcriptome complexity is substantially increased by the use of multiple transcription start sites for a given gene. By utilizing a rod photoreceptor-specific chromatin signature, and the RefSeq database of established transcription start sites, we have identified essentially all known rod photoreceptor genes as well as a group of novel genes that have a high probability of being expressed in rod photoreceptors. Approximately half of these novel rod genes are transcribed into multiple mRNA and/or protein isoforms through alternative transcriptional start sites (ATSS), only one of which has a rod-specific epigenetic signature and gives rise to a rod transcript. This suggests that, during retina development, some genes use ATSS to regulate cell type and temporal specificity, effectively ge

SUBMITTER: Popova EY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5480877 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature