Project description:Argonaute (Ago) proteins mediate post-transcriptional gene repression by binding guide microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate targeted RNAs. To confidently assess Agobound small RNAs, we adapted a mouse embryonic stem cell system to express a single inducible epitope-tagged Ago protein. Here, we report the small RNA profile of Agodeficient cells and determine Ago-dependent stability is a common feature of mammalian miRNAs. Considering both in vivo Ago-dependence for stability and Ago2 binding as defined by immunopurification, we have identified a novel class of non-canonical miRNAs derived from protein-coding gene promoters, which we name transcriptional start site miRNAs (TSS-miRNAs). A subset of promoter-proximal RNA polymerase II complexes produce hairpin RNAs that are processed in a DGCR8/Drosha-independent, but Dicer-dependent manner. TSS-miRNA activity is detectable endogenously, upon transfection of a mimic or by mRNA overexpression. Finally, we present evidence of differential expression and conservation in humans, suggesting important roles in gene regulation. Examination of Ago immunoprecipitations and mESC without Ago proteins
Project description:PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are genomically-encoded small RNAs that regulate germ cell development and guarantee germline integrity. Mature piRNAs engage Piwi Argonaute proteins to silence complementary transcripts, including transposable elements and endogenous genes. To date, piRNA biogenesis mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we show that the RNA Polymerase II subunit RPB-9 is required to promote transcription elongation at piRNA loci. Through genetic and biochemical experiments, we demonstrate that rpb-9-mediated piRNA production is needed to repress two DNA transposon families and a subset of somatic genes in the C. elegans germline.
Project description:We developed a novel approach to isolate and characterize, at nucleotide-level resolution, the RNAs derived from RNA polymerase II (Pol II) in early elongation complexes. We find that high numbers of these short RNAs are not correlated with gene expression but instead are indicative of promoter-proximally stalled polymerase. High amounts of these short RNAs are generated from more than one third of all genes, indicating that Pol II stalls in the promoter-proximal region on global scale. We also find that the nucleotide composition of the initially transcribed sequence plays an important role in promoting transcriptional stalling and that early elongation complexes are highly susceptible to backtracking and arrest. Global analysis of RNAs produced by promoter-proximal Pol II.
Project description:In the Caenorhabditis elegans germline, thousands of mRNAs are concomitantly expressed with antisense 22G-RNAs, which are loaded into the Argonaute CSR-1. Despite their essential functions for animal fertility and embryonic development, how CSR-1 22G-RNAs are produced remains unknown. Here, we show that CSR-1 slicer activity is primarily involved in triggering the synthesis of small RNAs on the coding sequences of germline mRNAs and post-transcriptionally regulates a fraction of targets. CSR-1-cleaved mRNAs prime the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, EGO-1, to synthesize 22G-RNAs in phase with ribosome translation in the cytoplasm, in contrast to other 22G-RNAs mostly synthesized in germ granules. Moreover, codon optimality and efficient translation antagonize CSR-1 slicing and 22G-RNAs biogenesis. We propose that codon usage differences encoded into mRNA sequences might be a conserved strategy in eukaryotes to regulate small RNA biogenesis and Argonaute targeting
Project description:Argonaute (Ago) proteins mediate post-transcriptional gene repression by binding guide microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate targeted RNAs. To confidently assess Agobound small RNAs, we adapted a mouse embryonic stem cell system to express a single inducible epitope-tagged Ago protein. Here, we report the small RNA profile of Agodeficient cells and determine Ago-dependent stability is a common feature of mammalian miRNAs. Considering both in vivo Ago-dependence for stability and Ago2 binding as defined by immunopurification, we have identified a novel class of non-canonical miRNAs derived from protein-coding gene promoters, which we name transcriptional start site miRNAs (TSS-miRNAs). A subset of promoter-proximal RNA polymerase II complexes produce hairpin RNAs that are processed in a DGCR8/Drosha-independent, but Dicer-dependent manner. TSS-miRNA activity is detectable endogenously, upon transfection of a mimic or by mRNA overexpression. Finally, we present evidence of differential expression and conservation in humans, suggesting important roles in gene regulation.
Project description:RNAi is a conserved mechanism in which small RNAs induce silencing of complementary targets. How Argonaute-bound small RNAs are targeted for degradation is not well understood. We show here that the adenyl-transferase Cid14, a member of the TRAMP complex, and the uridyl-transferase Cid16 add non-templated nucleotides to Argonaute-bound small RNAs in fission yeast. The tailing of Argonaute-bound small RNAs in vitro recruits the 3’-5’ exonuclease Rrp6 to degrade small RNAs. Failure in degradation of Argonaute-bound small RNAs results in accumulation of “noise” small RNAs on Argonaute and targeting of diverse euchromatic genes by RNAi. To protect themselves from uncontrolled RNAi, cid14Δ cells exploit the RNAi machinery and silence genes essential for RNAi itself, which is required for their viability. Our data indicate that surveillance of Argonaute-bound small RNAs by Cid14/Cid16 and the exosome protects the genome from uncontrolled RNAi and reveal a rapid RNAi-based adaptation to stress conditions.
Project description:CSR-1 is an essential Argonaute protein that binds to a subclass of 22G-RNAs targeting most germline-expressed genes. Here we show that the two isoforms of CSR-1 have distinct expression patterns; CSR-1B is ubiquitously expressed throughout the germline and during all stages of development while CSR-1A expression is restricted to germ cells undergoing spermatogenesis. Furthermore, CSR-1A associates preferentially with 22G-RNAs mapping to spermatogenesis-specific genes whereas CSR-1B-bound small RNAs map predominantly to oogenesis-specific genes. Interestingly, the exon unique to CSR-1A contains multiple dimethylarginine modifications, which are necessary for the preferential binding of CSR-1A to spermatogenesis-specific 22G-RNAs. Thus, we have discovered a regulatory mechanism for C. elegans Argonaute proteins that allows for specificity of small RNA binding between similar Argonaute proteins with overlapping temporal and spatial localization.
Project description:Promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a widespread in higher eukaryotes. Previous studies have shown that GAF is enriched at paused genes, but the role of GAF in pausing has not been well characterized on a genome-wide level. To investigate the role of GAF in pausing, we RNAi-depleted GAF from Drosophila S2 cells, and examined the effects on promoter-proximal polymerase. We confirmed the importance of GAF for pausing on the classic pause model gene Hsp70. To determine the dependence of pausing on GAF genome-wide, we assayed the levels of transcriptionally-engaged polymerase genome-wide using GRO-seq in control and GAF-RNAi cells. We found that promoter-proximal polymerase was significantly reduced on a subset of paused genes with GAF-bound promoters. There is a dramatic change in nucleosome distribution at genes with reduction in pausing upon GAF depletion and intergenic GAF binding sites in GAF knock-down, suggesting that GAF allows the establishment of pausing at these genes by directing nucleosome displacement off of the promoter. In addition, the insulator factor BEAF, BEAF-interacting protein Chriz, and transcription M1BP enrichment on unaffected genes suggests that redundant transcription factors or insulators protect other GAF-bound paused genes from GAF knock-down effects. Three biological replicates of MNase digested chromatin from LacZ-RNAi and GAGA factor-RNAi cells.