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Dynamically regulated transcription factors are encoded by highly unstable mRNAs in the Drosophila larval brain

ABSTRACT: The level of each RNA species depends on the balance between its rates of production and decay. Although previous studies have measured RNA decay across the genome in tissue culture and single-celled organisms, few experiments have been performed in intact complex tissues and organs. It is therefore unclear whether the determinants of RNA decay found in cultured cells are preserved in an intact tissue, and whether they differ between neighboring cell types and are regulated during development. To address these questions, we measured RNA synthesis and decay rates genome wide via metabolic labelling of whole cultured Drosophila larval brains using 4-thiouridine. Our analysis revealed that decay rates span a range of more than 100-fold, and that RNA stability is linked to gene function, with mRNAs encoding transcription factors being much less stable than mRNAs involved in core metabolic functions. Surprisingly, among transcription factor mRNAs there was a clear demarcation between more widely used transcription factors and those that are expressed only transiently during development. mRNAs encoding transient transcription factors are among the least stable in the brain. These mRNAs are characterized by epigenetic silencing in most cell types, as shown by their enrichment with the histone modification H3K27me3. Our data suggests the presence of an mRNA destabilizing mechanism targeted to these transiently expressed transcription factors, which would allow their levels to be regulated rapidly with high precision. Our study establishes a general method for measuring mRNA transcription and decay rates in intact organs or tissues, offering insights into the role of mRNA stability in the regulation of complex developmental programs.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE219202 | GEO | 2023/04/30

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Steady-state RNA levels are a result of RNA synthesis and degradation. The importance of transcription-factor mediated induction or repression of mRNA synthesis is well established, but the role and mechanisms of RNA degradation are less well understood. We globally evaluated the RNA decay rates in proliferating and differentiated mouse myoblasts on whole-genome Affymetrix exon arrays, allowing for the assessment of directionality of RNA degradation and the detection of splice variant-specific differences in RNA decay rates. We found large differences in decay rates. mRNAs coding for proteins involved in signal transduction and transcriptional regulation have shortest half lives, whereas mRNAs coding for DNA replication enzymes and muscle contraction proteins are among the most stable. Many genes differentially expressed between proliferating and differentiated myoblasts demonstrate major differences in RNA decay rates. Quantitative PCR experiments confirmed the higher stability of transcripts with increased expression levels. RNA degradation has no apparent preferential directionality. RNA degradation appears to affect the ratio of different splice variants. For example, Itga7 isoforms with higher abundance in differentiated than in proliferating cells are more stable in differentiated cells, despite the sharing of a common 3’ untranslated region. Thus, where it was previously thought that the abundance of different splice isoforms was mainly controlled by tissue-specific splicing factors, we now demonstrate that isoforms may be produced at comparable levels but degraded with different efficiencies, depending on the differentiation status of the cells. Our results indicate that control of RNA degradation rates contributes significantly to the differentiation stage-dependent differences in abundance of transcripts and splice variants. Keywords: total RNA expression profiling; cultured cells We analyzed proliferating C2C12 cells and C2C12 cells differentiated into myotubes by serum starvation (8 days after induction of differentiation). We analyzed 7 time points after addition of actionmycin D (0, 10, 20, 30, 60, 150, 480 minutes). There were two biological replicates per condition.

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Dynamically regulated transcription factors are encoded by highly unstable mRNAs in the Drosophila larval brain

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