Project description:Role of alternative transcription start sites in muscle growth and development remains largely undetermined. Our WTSS-seq (whole transcriptome start site sequencing) approach to capture 5'-end of RNAs clearly revealed alternative transcription start events responsible for increased muscle mass in AMPK α2 knockout mice.
Project description:We have developed both WTSS-seq (whole transcriptome start site sequencing) and WTTS-seq (whole transcriptome termini site sequencing) methods to capture either 5’- or 3’-ends of transcripts. HATT-seq (head and tail tag sequencing) is still under development, which can be used to capture both 5’- and 3’ ends of each transcript simultaneously. Iso-seq was used to produce full-length transcripts, which can be used to validate both alternative transcription start sites and alternative polyadenylation sites. CAGE-seq was used to confirm alternative transcription start sites only.
Project description:Pervasive usage of alternative promoters leads to deregulation of gene expression in carcinogenesis and may drive the emergence of new genes in spermatogenesis. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms underpinning the activation of alternative promoters. In our present study, we uncovered a novel mechanism by which alternative cancer-testis-specific transcription is activated from the intergenic and intronic clustered CTCF binding sites, which are transcriptionally inert in normal somatic cells. BORIS/CTCFL, a paralog of CTCF with cancer-testis-specific expression forms a heterodimer with CTCF at the clustered binding sites thus triggering epigenetic reprogramming of these sites into units of active transcription. BORIS binding to CTCF sites leads to the recruitment of chromatin-remodeling factor SRCAP, with subsequent replacement of H2A histone with H2A.Z, therefore creating a more relaxed chromatin state in the nucleosomes flanking the clustered binding sites. This facilitates opening of chromatin beyond CTCF/BORIS binding sites and paves the way to the recruitment of multiple additional transcription factors, thereby activating transcription from a given binding site. We demonstrate that the CTCF binding sites, epigenetically reprogrammed by ectopic BORIS expression can drive the expression of cancer-testis genes, long-noncoding RNAs, retro-pseudogenes, and dormant transposable elements harbored by activated long transcripts. Taking together, our results reveal that BORIS functions as a transcription factor that epigenetically reprograms clustered CTCF binding sites into transcriptional start sites, promoting transcription from alternative promoters in both germ cells and cancer cells.
Project description:Role of alternative polyadenylation in muscle development remains largely undetermined. Our WTTS-seq approach to capture 3'-end of RNAs clearly revealed alternaitve polyadenylation events responsible for reduced muscle mass in AMPK α1, but increased muscle mass in AMPK α2 knockout mice.
Project description:Background: The expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is primarily regulated during their transcription. However, the transcriptional regulation of miRNA genes has not been studied extensively owing to the lack of sufficient information about the promoters and transcription start sites of most miRNAs. Results: In this study, we identified the transcription start sites of human primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) using DROSHA knockout cells. DROSHA knockout resulted in increased accumulation of pri-miRNAs and facilitated the precise mapping of their 5′ end nucleotides using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. By analyzing the promoter region encompassing the transcription start sites of miRNAs, we found that the unrelated miRNAs in their sequences have many common elements in their promoters for binding the same transcription factors. Moreover, by analyzing intronic miRNAs, we also obtained comprehensive evidence that miRNA-harboring introns are spliced more slowly than other introns. Conclusions: The precisely mapped transcription start sites of pri-miRNAs, and the list of transcription factors for pri-miRNAs regulation, will be valuable resources for future studies to understand the regulatory network of miRNAs.
Project description:We applied our recently released Whole Transcriptome Termini Site sequencing protocol to profile usage of alternative polyadenylation sites in Xenopus tropicalis.
Project description:The production of Tobacco Acid Pyrophosphatase (TAP), an enzyme commonly used for the removal of the 5’cap of eukaryotic mRNAs, has been recently discontinued. Here we performed a comparison of current alternatives for the mapping of 5’cap mRNAs and the associated transcription start sites in Sacharomyces cerevisiae. Specifically we compared TAP with Cap-clip and a Decapping Pyrophosphohydrolase. Our results suggest that Cap-clip is a good alternative for TAP.