Alu repeat-containing RNA spatially organizes actively transcribed genomic regions around nuclear speckle
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE313867 | GEO | 2026/03/03
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:It has long been known that nuclear speckle is a nuclear body that contains numerous RNA splicing and processing proteins. Accumulating evidences have shown that the genomic regions of highly transcribed genes and their corresponding nascent premRNAs are organized around nuclear speckles to achieve co-transcriptional RNA processing. But, how the actively transcribed genes are organized around nuclear speckle is unknown. Here, we identified RNAs localized in nuclear speckles and found that a class of Alu-repeat RNAs were highly enriched around the nuclear speckle. These RNAs tend to directly bind to the genomic regions of actively transcribed genes via its Alu element and form R-loops. Meanwhile, they can interact with nuclear speckle protein components and promote their aggregation and phase separation, synchronously mediating the formation of nuclear speckle and organization of the actively transcribed genes around them. Depletion of these Alu-repeat RNAs results in a significant reduction in the size of nuclear speckle, far away of active genes from nuclear speckle, and the consequent reduction in RNA processing. This mechanism is essential for the high expression of a large number of erythroid specific genes during erythrocyte development, which would be severely impeded in the absence of these repeat-containing RNAs. Our work highlights the emerging role of Alu-repeat RNAs in assembling nuclear speckles and mediating spatial co-transcriptional RNA processing.
2026-03-03 | GSE281381 | GEO
Project description:Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection extensively remodels the host nucleus, marginalizing chromatin to the nuclear periphery and forming prominent viral replication compartments (VRCs). Nuclear speckles, nuclear bodies enriched with RNA-processing factors, are repositioned adjacent to VRCs and undergo structural changes, including enlargement and rounding up. While viral mRNAs are transcribed within VRCs and host transcription is largely suppressed, the nuclear pathways that viral and upregulated host transcripts take en route to the cytoplasm and their relationship with nuclear bodies, remain poorly understood. Furthermore, it is unclear why the infected nucleus continues to uphold these nuclear bodies as the nucleus restructures. Here, we demonstrate that immediate-early (IE) viral transcripts uniquely accumulate within nuclear speckles prior to export, a phenomenon not observed for early or late viral transcripts, highlighting a selective nuclear speckle-dependent processing pathway. Host mRNAs transcriptionally upregulated during infection similarly traffic into nuclear speckles after transcription. Structural remodeling of nuclear speckles includes removal of the long non-coding RNA MALAT1 from nuclear speckles, and increased dynamics of the core nuclear speckle protein SRRM2. Additionally, inhibiting mRNA export results in the accumulation of IE viral mRNAs in nuclear speckles, and disassembling nuclear speckles significantly impairs IE viral mRNA export, effectively blocking downstream viral gene expression, confirming nuclear speckles as critical intermediate hubs for viral transcript processing and nuclear export. Altogether, these findings establish nuclear speckles as indispensable and dynamic regulatory centers that selectively facilitate the processing and export of immediate-early viral mRNAs during HSV-1 infection.
2026-01-28 | GSE316321 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear speckles are membraneless organelles that associate with active transcription sites and participate in post-transcriptional mRNA processing. During the cell cycle, nuclear speckles dissolve following phosphorylation of their protein components. Here, we identify the PP1 family as the phosphatases that counteract kinase-mediated dissolution. PP1 overexpression increases speckle cohesion and leads to retention of polyadenylated RNA within speckles and the nucleus. Using APEX2 proximity labeling combined with RNA-sequencing, we characterized the relationship between the cohesion of nuclear speckles and the recruitment of specific RNAs. We find that many transcripts are preferentially enriched within nuclear speckles compared to the nucleoplasm, particularly chromatin- and nucleus-associated transcripts. While total polyadenylated RNA retention increased with nuclear speckle cohesion, the ratios of most mRNA species to each other were constant, indicating non-selective, or proportional, retention. We then explored whether nuclear speckle cohesion changes in response to environmental perturbations associated with changes in kinase or phosphatase activity. We found that cellular responses to heat shock, oxidative stress, and hypoxia include changes to the cohesion of nuclear speckles and mRNA retention. Our results demonstrate that tuning the material properties of nuclear speckles provides a mechanism for the acute control of mRNA localization.
2024-11-28 | PXD055775 | Pride
Project description:The nucleus is highly organized such that factors involved in transcription and processing of distinct classes of RNA are organized within specific nuclear bodies. One example is the nuclear speckle, which is defined by high concentrations of protein and non-coding RNA regulators of pre-mRNA splicing. What functional role, if any, speckles might play in the process of mRNA splicing remains unknown. Here we show that genes localized near nuclear speckles display higher spliceosome concentrations, increased spliceosome binding to their pre-mRNAs, and higher co-transcriptional splicing levels relative to genes that are located farther from nuclear speckles. We show that directed recruitment of a pre-mRNA to nuclear speckles is sufficient to increase mRNA splicing levels. Finally, we show that gene organization around nuclear speckles is highly dynamic with differential localization between cell types corresponding to differences in splicing efficiency. Together, our results integrate the longstanding observations of nuclear speckles with the biochemistry of mRNA splicing and demonstrate a critical role for dynamic 3D spatial organization of genomic DNA in driving spliceosome concentrations and controlling the efficiency of mRNA splicing.
2024-03-22 | GSE247833 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear speckles are membraneless organelles that associate with active transcription sites and participate in post-transcriptional mRNA processing. During mitosis, nuclear speckles dissolve following phosphorylation of their protein components. Here, we identify PP1 phosphatases as responsible for counteracting kinase-mediated dissolution. Their overexpression increases speckle cohesion and leads to retention of polyadenylated RNA within speckles and the nucleus. By performing APEX2 proximity labeling combined with RNA-sequencing, we characterized the association of specific RNAs with nuclear speckles depending on their cohesion state. We find that many transcripts are preferentially enriched within nuclear speckles compared to the nucleoplasm, particularly chromatin- and nucleus-associated transcripts. While total polyadenylated RNA retention increased with greater nuclear speckle cohesion, the ratios of most mRNA species to each other were constant, indicating non-selective, or proportional, retention. We then explored whether nuclear speckle cohesion changes in response to environmental perturbations associated with changes in kinase or phosphatase activity. We found that cellular responses to heat shock, oxidative stress, and hypoxia include changes to the cohesion of nuclear speckles and mRNA retention. Our results demonstrate that tuning the material properties of nuclear speckles provides a mechanism for the acute control of mRNA localization.
2024-11-10 | GSE240891 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear speckles are membraneless organelles that associate with active transcription sites and participate in post-transcriptional mRNA processing. During mitosis, nuclear speckles dissolve following phosphorylation of their protein components. Here, we identify PP1 phosphatases as responsible for counteracting kinase-mediated dissolution. Their overexpression increases speckle cohesion and leads to retention of polyadenylated RNA within speckles and the nucleus. By performing APEX2 proximity labeling combined with RNA-sequencing, we characterized the association of specific RNAs with nuclear speckles depending on their cohesion state. We find that many transcripts are preferentially enriched within nuclear speckles compared to the nucleoplasm, particularly chromatin- and nucleus-associated transcripts. While total polyadenylated RNA retention increased with greater nuclear speckle cohesion, the ratios of most mRNA species to each other were constant, indicating non-selective, or proportional, retention. We then explored whether nuclear speckle cohesion changes in response to environmental perturbations associated with changes in kinase or phosphatase activity. We found that cellular responses to heat shock, oxidative stress, and hypoxia include changes to the cohesion of nuclear speckles and mRNA retention. Our results demonstrate that tuning the material properties of nuclear speckles provides a mechanism for the acute control of mRNA localization.
2024-11-10 | GSE240883 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear compartments are membrane-less nuclear regions that are enriched in functionally related molecules. RNA is a major component of many nuclear compartments, but the identity and dynamics of transcripts within nuclear compartments are poorly understood. Here, we applied Reverse Transcribe & Tagment (RT&Tag) to identify the transcript populations of Polycomb domains and of nuclear speckles within the nucleus. We also developed SLAM-RT&Tag, which combines RNA metabolic labeling with RT&Tag, to quantify transcript dynamics within nuclear compartments. Intriguingly, exceptionally long genes are transcribed adjacent to Polycomb domains, and are transiently associated with chromatin. In contrast, diverse incompletely spliced mature transcripts migrate to nuclear speckles, and are generally transient within speckles. Speckle transcripts are retained longer when splicing is inhibited, suggesting post-transcriptional processing is coupled to speckle dynamics. Our findings argue that nuclear speckles act as quality control checkpoints that transiently confine incompletely spliced transcripts and facilitate their post-transcriptional splicing.
2025-03-04 | GSE272219 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear speckles are dynamic nuclear bodies characterized by high local concentrations of RNA binding proteins and specific non-coding RNAs. Although the contents of speckles suggest multifaceted roles in regulating chromatin dynamics and gene expression, the overarching biological function(s) of nuclear speckles remain enigmatic. In this study, we investigate speckle compositional variation in human cancer, finding two main speckle compositional states based on RNA expression of speckle-resident proteins. One cancer speckle state was more similar to normal adjacent tissues, while the other was dissimilar from normal tissue, and thus considered an aberrant cancer speckle state. We link the aberrant speckle state to altered speckle positioning within the nucleus, to elevation of the TREX RNA export complex, and to worse patient outcomes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). ccRCC is typified by hyperactivation of the HIF-2a transcription factor, and we demonstrate that HIF-2a drives physical association of a select subset of its target genes with nuclear speckles depending on HIF-2a's two speckle targeting motifs (STMs) defined in this study. STMs are highly enriched among transcription factors, suggesting that DNA-speckle targeting may be a general mechanism of gene regulation and providing a resource of candidate speckle-targeting factors. Via integration of tissue culture functional studies with tumor genomic and imaging analysis, we show that HIF-2a gene regulatory programs are impacted by speckle compositional state and by abrogation of speckle targeting abilities of HIF-2a. These findings suggest that, in ccRCC, a key biological function of nuclear speckles is to modulate expression of a specific subset of HIF-2a-regulated target genes that, in turn, influence patient outcomes. Beyond ccRCC, tumor speckle compositional states broadly correlate with altered functional pathways and expression of speckle-associated gene neighborhoods, exposing a general link between nuclear speckles and gene expression dysregulation in human cancer.
2024-09-03 | GSE269570 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear speckles are dynamic nuclear bodies characterized by high local concentrations of RNA binding proteins and specific non-coding RNAs. Although the contents of speckles suggest multifaceted roles in regulating chromatin dynamics and gene expression, the overarching biological function(s) of nuclear speckles remain enigmatic. In this study, we investigate speckle compositional variation in human cancer, finding two main speckle compositional states based on RNA expression of speckle-resident proteins. One cancer speckle state was more similar to normal adjacent tissues, while the other was dissimilar from normal tissue, and thus considered an aberrant cancer speckle state. We link the aberrant speckle state to altered speckle positioning within the nucleus, to elevation of the TREX RNA export complex, and to worse patient outcomes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). ccRCC is typified by hyperactivation of the HIF-2a transcription factor, and we demonstrate that HIF-2a drives physical association of a select subset of its target genes with nuclear speckles depending on HIF-2a's two speckle targeting motifs (STMs) defined in this study. STMs are highly enriched among transcription factors, suggesting that DNA-speckle targeting may be a general mechanism of gene regulation and providing a resource of candidate speckle-targeting factors. Via integration of tissue culture functional studies with tumor genomic and imaging analysis, we show that HIF-2a gene regulatory programs are impacted by speckle compositional state and by abrogation of speckle targeting abilities of HIF-2a. These findings suggest that, in ccRCC, a key biological function of nuclear speckles is to modulate expression of a specific subset of HIF-2a-regulated target genes that, in turn, influence patient outcomes. Beyond ccRCC, tumor speckle compositional states broadly correlate with altered functional pathways and expression of speckle-associated gene neighborhoods, exposing a general link between nuclear speckles and gene expression dysregulation in human cancer.
2024-09-03 | GSE248710 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear speckles are dynamic nuclear bodies characterized by high local concentrations of RNA binding proteins and specific non-coding RNAs. Although the contents of speckles suggest multifaceted roles in regulating chromatin dynamics and gene expression, the overarching biological function(s) of nuclear speckles remain enigmatic. In this study, we investigate speckle compositional variation in human cancer, finding two main speckle compositional states based on RNA expression of speckle-resident proteins. One cancer speckle state was more similar to normal adjacent tissues, while the other was dissimilar from normal tissue, and thus considered an aberrant cancer speckle state. We link the aberrant speckle state to altered speckle positioning within the nucleus, to elevation of the TREX RNA export complex, and to worse patient outcomes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). ccRCC is typified by hyperactivation of the HIF-2a transcription factor, and we demonstrate that HIF-2a drives physical association of a select subset of its target genes with nuclear speckles depending on HIF-2a's two speckle targeting motifs (STMs) defined in this study. STMs are highly enriched among transcription factors, suggesting that DNA-speckle targeting may be a general mechanism of gene regulation and providing a resource of candidate speckle-targeting factors. Via integration of tissue culture functional studies with tumor genomic and imaging analysis, we show that HIF-2a gene regulatory programs are impacted by speckle compositional state and by abrogation of speckle targeting abilities of HIF-2a. These findings suggest that, in ccRCC, a key biological function of nuclear speckles is to modulate expression of a specific subset of HIF-2a-regulated target genes that, in turn, influence patient outcomes. Beyond ccRCC, tumor speckle compositional states broadly correlate with altered functional pathways and expression of speckle-associated gene neighborhoods, exposing a general link between nuclear speckles and gene expression dysregulation in human cancer.
2024-09-03 | GSE248706 | GEO