Project description:Splicing of pre-mRNAs results in the deposition of the exon junction complex (EJC) upstream of exon-exon boundaries. The EJC plays crucial post-splicing roles in export, translation, localization and nonsense-mediated decay of mRNAs. It also aids faithful splicing of pre-mRNAs containing large introns, albeit via an unknown mechanism. Here, we show that the core EJC plus the accessory factors RnpS1 and Acinus aid in definition and efficient splicing of neighboring introns. This requires prior deposition of the EJC in close proximity either from an upstream or downstream splicing event. If present in isolation, EJC-dependent introns are splicing-defective also in wildtype cells. Interestingly, the most affected intron belongs to the piwi locus, which explains the reported transposon de-silencing in EJC-depleted Drosophila ovaries. We propose that the dependency of splicing on the EJC is exploited as a means to control the temporal order of splicing events. Our observations provide a powerful basis to dissect the molecular events that underlie the role of the EJC in splicing. Analysis of splicing defects in 3 knockdowns (siGFP [control], siACN, siTSU) in Drosohpila OSCs. PolyA RNA (biological duplicates) and total-RNA was sequenced on a Illumina HiSeq2000 in PE50 mode.
Project description:Splicing of pre-mRNAs results in the deposition of the exon junction complex (EJC) upstream of exon-exon boundaries. The EJC plays crucial post-splicing roles in export, translation, localization and nonsense-mediated decay of mRNAs. It also aids faithful splicing of pre-mRNAs containing large introns, albeit via an unknown mechanism. Here, we show that the core EJC plus the accessory factors RnpS1 and Acinus aid in definition and efficient splicing of neighboring introns. This requires prior deposition of the EJC in close proximity either from an upstream or downstream splicing event. If present in isolation, EJC-dependent introns are splicing-defective also in wildtype cells. Interestingly, the most affected intron belongs to the piwi locus, which explains the reported transposon de-silencing in EJC-depleted Drosophila ovaries. We propose that the dependency of splicing on the EJC is exploited as a means to control the temporal order of splicing events. Our observations provide a powerful basis to dissect the molecular events that underlie the role of the EJC in splicing.
Project description:Signaling pathways are controlled by a vast array of post-translational mechanisms. By contrast, little is known regarding the mechanisms that regulate the expression of their core components. We conducted an RNAi screen in Drosophila for factors modulating RAS/MAPK signaling and identified the Exon Junction Complex (EJC) as a novel key element of this pathway. The EJC binds the exon-exon junctions of mRNAs, and thus far, has been linked exclusively to post-splicing events. Here, we report that the EJC is required for proper splicing of mapk transcripts by a mechanism that apparently controls exon definition. Moreover, whole transcriptome and RT-PCR analyses of EJC-depleted cells revealed that the splicing of long intron-containing genes, which includes mapk, is sensitive to EJC activity. These results identify a role for the EJC in the splicing of a subset of transcripts and suggest that RAS/MAPK signaling depends on the regulation of MAPK levels by the EJC.
Project description:The exon junction complex (EJC) is a highly conserved ribonucleoprotein complex which binds RNAs during splicing and remains associated with them following export to the cytoplasm. While the role of this complex in mRNA localization, translation and degradation has been well characterized, its mechanism of action in splicing a subset of Drosophila and human transcripts remains to be elucidated. Here, we describe a novel function for the EJC and its splicing subunit RnpS1 in preventing transposon accumulation in both Drosophila germline and surrounding somatic follicle cells. This function is mediated specifically through the control of piwi transcript splicing, where in the absence of RnpS1 the fourth intron of piwi is retained. Within this intron the polypyrimidine tract is disrupted by a transposon-adjacent A/T-rich sequence that confers dependence on RnpS1. Finally, we demonstrate that RnpS1-dependent removal of this intron requires splicing of the flanking introns, suggesting a model in which the EJC facilitates the splicing of weak introns following its initial deposition at adjacent exon junctions. These data demonstrate a novel role for the EJC in regulating piwi intron excision and provide a mechanism for its function during splicing. Small-RNA libraries from two control samples and four knockdowns in germline or somatic tissues of the Drosophila melanogaster ovary.
Project description:Signaling pathways are controlled by a vast array of post-translational mechanisms. By contrast, little is known regarding the mechanisms that regulate the expression of their core components. We conducted an RNAi screen in Drosophila for factors modulating RAS/MAPK signaling and identified the Exon Junction Complex (EJC) as a novel key element of this pathway. The EJC binds the exon-exon junctions of mRNAs, and thus far, has been linked exclusively to post-splicing events. Here, we report that the EJC is required for proper splicing of mapk transcripts by a mechanism that apparently controls exon definition. Moreover, whole transcriptome and RT-PCR analyses of EJC-depleted cells revealed that the splicing of long intron-containing genes, which includes mapk, is sensitive to EJC activity. These results identify a role for the EJC in the splicing of a subset of transcripts and suggest that RAS/MAPK signaling depends on the regulation of MAPK levels by the EJC. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) of Drosophila S2 cells to monitor the effect of EJC depletion on the cellular mRNA expression profile. Each treatment (dsRNA knockdown of MAGO (CG9401), dsRNA knockdown of eIF4AIII (CG7483)) was done in biological duplicate and each sample was sequenced separately on a quad slide on the SOLiD 3.0 platform. The reference samples were treated with a dsRNA targeted to GFP.
Project description:In metazoans, mRNA quality is tightly monitored from transcription to translation. A key role lies with the exon junction complex (EJC) that is placed upstream of the exon-exon junction after splicing. The EJC inner core is composed of Magoh, Y14, eIF4AIII and BTZ and the outer core of proteins involved in mRNA splicing (CWC22), export (Yra1), translation (PYM) and non-sense mediated decay (NMD, UPF1/2/3). The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei encodes only two genes with introns, but all mRNAs are processed by trans-splicing. The presence of the three core EJC proteins and a potential BTZ homologue (Rbp25) in trypanosomes has been suggested as an adaptation of the EJC function to mark trans-spliced mRNAs. Here we explore the interactome of Magoh, Y14, eIF4AIII in T. brucei by TurboID proximity labelling.
Project description:Using the TSG101 pre-mRNA, we previously discovered cancer-specific re-splicing of mature mRNA that generates aberrant transcripts/proteins. The fact that mRNA is aberrantly re-spliced in various cancer cells implies there must be an important mechanism to prevent deleterious re-splicing on the spliced mRNA in normal cells. We thus postulated that the mRNA re-splicing is controlled by specific repressors and we searched for repressor candidates by siRNA-based screening for mRNA re-splicing activity. We found that knock-down of EIF4A3, which is a core component of the exon junction complex (EJC), significantly promoted mRNA re-splicing. Remarkably, we could recapitulate cancer-specific mRNA re-splicing in normal cells by knock-down of any of the core EJC proteins, EIF4A3, MAGOH or RBM8A (Y14), implicating the EJC core as the repressor of mRNA re-splicing often observed in cancer cells. We propose that the EJC core is a critical mRNA quality control factor to prevent over-splicing of mature mRNA.
Project description:Wingless (Wg)/Wnt signaling is conserved in all metazoan animals and plays critical roles in development. The Wg/Wnt morphogen reception is essential for signal activation, whose activity is mediated through the receptor complex and a scaffold protein Dishevelled (Dsh). We report here that the exon junction complex (EJC) activity is indispensable for Wg signaling by maintaining an appropriate level of Dsh protein for Wg ligand reception in Drosophila. Transcriptome analyses in Drosophila wing imaginal discs indicate that the EJC controls the splicing of the cell polarity gene disc large 1 (dlg1), whose coding protein directly interacts with Dsh. Genetic and biochemical experiments demonstrate that Dlg1 protein acts independently from its role in cell polarity to protect Dsh protein from lysosomal degradation. More importantly, human orthologous Dlg protein is sufficient to promote Dvl protein stabilization and Wnt signaling activity, thus revealing a conserved regulatory mechanism of Wg/Wnt signaling by Dlg and EJC. whole transcriptome RNA-seq to examine mRNAs extracted from wildtype (i.e. overexpressing lacZ) and pre-EJC-defective (i.e. overexpressing tsu RNAi) wing discs, respectively.
Project description:Alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs increases the potential for regulation and complexity of gene expression. The exon junction complex (EJC) and its associated splicing factor RNPS1 were recently shown to suppress mis-splicing resulting from the usage of cryptic and reconstituted 5’ and 3’ splice sites in the vicinity of the EJC. Here, we aimed to further investigate the mechanisms underlying splicing regulation by RNPS1. A transcriptome-wide analysis identified hundreds of splice events affected by the knockdown (KD) of RNPS1 in HeLa cells. These included alternative splice site usage as well as intron retention, exon skipping and inclusion. However, only a fraction of these RNPS1-dependent splice events was fully or partially rescued by the expression of the RNPS1 RRM. These results indicated that another domain of RNPS1 is involved in the regulation of the majority of splicing events. Deletion experiments revealed that the N-terminus and S-domain, and in particular the C-terminus of RNPS1 strongly regulate these events. Several splicing factors, including SR proteins and U1 snRNP components, were strongly reduced in the interactome of RNPS1 lacking the C terminus. We conclude that RNPS1 interacts with many splicing factors to direct the assembly of EJC-dependent and-independent splicing complexes.
Project description:Promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a widespread transcriptional regulatory step across metazoans. Here we find that the nuclear exon junction complex (pre-EJC) is a critical and conserved regulator of this process. Depletion of pre-EJC subunits leads to a global decrease in Pol II pausing and to premature entry into elongation. This effect occurs, at least in part, via non-canonical recruitment of pre-EJC components at promoters. Failure to recruit the pre-EJC at promoters results in increased binding of the positive transcription elongation complex (P-TEFb) and in enhanced Pol II release. Notably, restoring pausing is sufficient to rescue exon skipping and the photoreceptor differentiation defect associated with depletion of pre-EJC components in vivo. We propose that the pre-EJC serves as an early transcriptional checkpoint to prevent premature entry into elongation, ensuring proper recruitment of RNA processing components that are necessary for exon definition.