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Definition of germ cell lineage alternative splicing programs reveals a critical role for Quaking in specifying cardiac cell fate

ABSTRACT: Alternative splicing is critical for development. However, its role in the specification of the three embryonic germ layers is poorly understood. By performing RNA-Seq on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and derived endoderm, cardiac mesoderm, and ectoderm cell lineages, we detect distinct alternative splicing programs associated with each lineage. The most prominent splicing program differences are observed between definitive endoderm and cardiac mesoderm. Integrative multi-omics analyses link each program with lineage-specific RNA binding protein regulators, and further suggest a widespread role for Quaking (QKI) in the specification of cardiac mesoderm. Remarkably, knockout of QKI disrupts the cardiac mesoderm-associated alternative splicing program and formation of myocytes. These changes likely arise in part through reduced expression of BIN1 splice variants linked to cardiac development. Collectively, our results thus uncover alternative splicing programs associated with the three germ lineages and demonstrate an important role for QKI in the formation of cardiac mesoderm.

INSTRUMENT(S): Orbitrap Fusion ETD

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (ncbitaxon:9606)

SUBMITTER: William Russell

PROVIDER: MSV000088762 | MassIVE | Tue Feb 01 09:41:00 GMT 2022

REPOSITORIES: MassIVE

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Project description:Both transcription and post-transcriptional processes, such as alternative splicing, play crucial roles in controlling developmental programs in metazoans. Recently emerged RNA-seq method has brought our understanding of eukaryotic transcriptomes to a new level, because it can resolve both gene expression level and alternative splicing events simultaneously. To gain a better understanding of cellular differentiation in gonads, we analyzed mRNA profiles from Drosophila testes and ovaries using RNA-seq. We identified a set of genes that have sex-specific isoforms in wild-type (WT) gonads, including several transcription factors. We found that differentiation of sperms from undifferentiated germ cells induced a dramatic downregulation of RNA splicing factors. Our data confirmed that RNA splicing events are significantly more frequent in the undifferentiated cell-enriched bag of marbles (bam) mutant testis, but downregulated upon differentiation in WT testis. Consistent with this, we showed that genes required for meiosis and terminal differentiation in WT testis were mainly regulated at the transcriptional level, but not by alternative splicing. Unexpectedly, we observed an increase in expression of all families of chromatin remodeling factors and histone modifying enzymes in the undifferentiated cell-enriched bam testis. More interestingly, chromatin regulators and histone modifying enzymes with opposite enzymatic activities are coenriched in undifferentiated cells in testis, suggesting that these cells may possess dynamic chromatin architecture. Finally, our data revealed many new features of the Drosophila gonadal transcriptomes, and will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of how differential gene expression and splicing regulate gametogenesis in Drosophila. Our data provided a foundation for the systematic study of gene expression and alternative splicing in many interesting areas of germ cell biology in Drosophila, such as the molecular basis for sexual dimorphism and the regulation of the proliferation vs terminal differentiation programs in germline stem cell lineages. RNA-Seq experiments for four Drosophila melanogaster samples: (1) bam mutant testes, (2) wild-type testes, (3) bam mutant ovaries, (4) wild-type ovaries

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Definition of germ cell lineage alternative splicing programs reveals a critical role for Quaking in specifying cardiac cell fate

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