Project description:Complex functional coupling exists between transcriptional elongation and pre-mRNA alternative splicing. Pausing sites and changes in the rate of transcription by RNAPII may therefore have a fundamental impact in the regulation of alternative splicing. Here, we show that the elongation and splicing-related factor TCERG1 regulates alternative splicing of the apoptosis gene Bcl-x in a promoter-dependent manner. TCERG1 promotes the splicing of the short isoform of Bcl-x (Bcl-xs) through the SB1 regulatory element located in the first half of exon 2. Consistent with these results, we show evidence for in vitro and in vivo interaction of TCERG1 with the Bcl-x pre-mRNA. Transcription profile analysis reveals that the RNA sequences required for the effect of TCERG1 on Bcl-x alternative splicing coincide with a putative polymerase pause site. Furthermore, TCERG1 modifies the impact of a slow polymerase on Bcl-x alternative splicing. In support of a role for an elongation mechanism in the transcriptional control of Bcl-x alternative splicing, we found that TCERG1 modifies the amount of pre-mRNAs generated at distal regions of the endogenous Bcl-x. Most importantly, TCERG1 affects the rate of RNAPII transcription of endogenous human Bcl-x. We propose that TCERG1 modulates the elongation rate of RNAPII to relieve pausing, thereby activating the pro-apoptotic Bcl-xS 5’ splice site. ChIP-Seq
Project description:The rate of RNA polymerase II (pol II) elongation can influence splice site selection in nascent transcripts, yet the extent and physiological relevance of this kinetic coupling between transcription and alternative splicing is not well understood. We performed experiments to perturb pol II elongation and then globally compared alternative splicing patterns with genome-wide pol II occupancy. RNA binding and RNA processing functions were significantly enriched among the genes with pol II elongation inhibition-dependent changes in alternative splicing. Under conditions that interfere with pol II elongation, including cell stress, increased pol II occupancy was detected in the intronic regions flanking the alternative exons in these genes, and these exons generally became more included. A disproportionately high fraction of these exons introduced premature termination codons that elicited nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), thereby further reducing transcript levels. Our results provide evidence that kinetic coupling between transcription, alternative splicing and NMD affords a rapid mechanism by which cells can respond to changes in growth conditions, including cell stress, to coordinate the levels of RNA processing factors with mRNA levels. To monitor pol II distributions, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq) was performed using an anti-pol II antibody (4H8) and cross-linked chromatin preparations from Jurkat cells, treated with or without pol II elongation inhibitor 5,6-dichloro-1-β-D-ribofuranosyl-benzimidazole (DRB) at 10 and 25 ug/ml respectively prior to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) stimulation, for 5000+ alternative splicing events.
Project description:Mediator complex is an integrative hub for transcriptional regulation. Here we show that Mediator regulates alternative mRNA processing via its Med23 subunit. Combining tandem affinity purification and mass spectrometry, we identified a number of mRNA processing factors that bind to a soluble recombinant Mediator subunit MED23 but not to several other Mediator components. One of these factors, hnRNP L, specifically interacts with MED23 in vitro and in vivo. Consistently, Mediator partially colocalizes with hnRNP L and the splicing machinery in the cell. Functionally Med23 regulates a subset of hnRNP L-targeted alternative splicing (AS) and alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA) events as shown by minigene reporters and exon array analysis. ChIP-seq analysis revealed that Med23 can regulate hnRNP L occupancy at their co-regulated genes. Taken together, these results demonstrate a crosstalk between Mediator and the splicing machinery, suggesting a novel mechanism for coupling mRNA processing to transcription. Examination of hnRNP L and H3K36me3 enrichment in sictrl and si23 Hela cells
Project description:We carried out the first analysis of alternative splicing complexity in human tissues using mRNA-Seq data. New splice junctions were detected in 20% of multiexon genes, many of which are tissue specific. By combining mRNA-Seq and EST-cDNA sequence data, we estimate that transcripts from 95% of multiexon genes undergo alternative splicing and that there are 100,000 intermediate- to high-abundance alternative splicing events in major human tissues. From a comparison with quantitative alternative splicing microarray profiling data, we also show that mRNA-Seq data provide reliable measurements for exon inclusion levels. Keywords: mRNA expression 32-nucleotide sequence reads from six human tissues including brain, cerebral cortex, heart, liver, lung and skeletal muscle.
Project description:Transcription and pre-mRNA alternative splicing are highly regulated processes that play major roles in modulating eukaryotic gene expression. It is increasingly apparent that other pathways of RNA metabolism, including small RNA biogenesis, can regulate these processes. However, a direct link between alternative pre- mRNA splicing and small RNA pathways has remained elusive. Here we show that the small RNA pathway protein Argonaute-2 (Ago-2) regulates alternative pre-mRNA splicing patterns of specific transcripts in the Drosophila nucleus using genome-wide methods in conjunction with RNAi in cell culture and Ago-2 deletion or catalytic site mutations in Drosophila adults. Moreover, we show that nuclear Argonaute-2 binds to specific chromatin sites near gene promoters and negatively regulates the transcription of the Ago-2-associated target genes. These transcriptional target genes are also bound by Polycomb group (PcG) transcriptional repressor proteins and change during development, implying that Ago-2 may regulate Drosophila development. Impor- tantly, both of these activities were independent of the catalytic activity of Ago-2, suggesting new roles for Ago-2 in the nucleus. Finally, we determined the nuclear RNA-binding profile of Ago-2, found it bound to several splicing target transcripts, and identified a G-rich RNA-binding site for Ago-2 that was enriched in these transcripts. These results suggest two new nuclear roles for Ago-2: one in pre-mRNA splicing and one in transcriptional repression. Input chromatin, 2 replicates of Ago2 ChIP-seq
Project description:We carried out the first analysis of alternative splicing complexity in human tissues using mRNA-Seq data. New splice junctions were detected in 20% of multiexon genes, many of which are tissue specific. By combining mRNA-Seq and EST-cDNA sequence data, we estimate that transcripts from 95% of multiexon genes undergo alternative splicing and that there are 100,000 intermediate- to high-abundance alternative splicing events in major human tissues. From a comparison with quantitative alternative splicing microarray profiling data, we also show that mRNA-Seq data provide reliable measurements for exon inclusion levels. Keywords: mRNA expression
Project description:Background: Despite the prevalence and biological relevance of both signalling pathways and alternative pre-mRNA splicing, our knowledge of how intracellular signalling impacts on alternative splicing regulation remains fragmentary. We report a genome-wide analysis of changes in alternative splicing using splicing-sensitive microarrays, induced by activation of two distinct signalling pathways, insulin and wingless, in Drosophila cells in culture. Results: Alternative splicing changes induced by insulin affect more than 150 genes and more than 50 genes are regulated by wingless activation. About 40% of the genes showing changes in alternative splicing also show regulation of mRNA levels, suggesting distinct but also significantly overlapping programs of transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation. Distinct functional sets of genes are regulated by each pathway and, remarkably, a significant overlap is observed between functional categories of genes regulated transcriptionally and at the level of alternative splicing. Functions related with carbohydrate metabolism and cellular signalling are enriched among genes regulated by insulin and wingless, respectively. Computational searches identify pathway-specific sequence motifs enriched near regulated 5â splice sites. Conclusion: Taken together, our data indicate that signalling cascades trigger pathway-specific and biologically coherent regulatory programs of alternative splicing regulation. They also reveal that alternative splicing can provide a novel molecular mechanism for cross-talk between different signalling pathways. To monitor transcriptional and alternative splicing changes induced by activation of the insulin and wingless pathways, a custom-designed microarray platform was employed featuring probes for all Drosophila genes for which different mRNA isoforms generated by alternative splicing have been described (see Blanchette M, Green RE, Brenner SE, Rio DC: Global analysis of positive and negative pre-mRNA splicing regulators in Drosophila. Genes Dev 2005, 19(11):1306-1314.). Three biological replicates of total RNA isolated after pathway activation or controls (untreated cells for insulin, control dsRNA for wingless) were purified, reverse transcribed into cDNA and labelled with Cy5 or Cy3 fluorochromes and the cDNA was hybridized to the microarray,
Project description:Alternative splicing of pre-mRNA is a prominent mechanism to generate protein diversity, yet its regulation is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate a direct role for histone modifications in alternative splicing. We find distinctive histone modification signatures which correlate with splicing outcome in a set of human genes. Modulation of histone modifications causes splice site switching. The mechanism for histone-mediated splice site selection involves a histone mark which is read by a chromatin protein, which in turn recruits a splicing regulator. These results outline an adaptor system for reading of histone marks by the pre-mRNA splicing machinery.
Project description:Complex functional coupling exists between transcriptional elongation and pre-mRNA alternative splicing. Pausing sites and changes in the rate of transcription by RNAPII may therefore have a fundamental impact in the regulation of alternative splicing. Here, we show that the elongation and splicing-related factor TCERG1 regulates alternative splicing of the apoptosis gene Bcl-x in a promoter-dependent manner. TCERG1 promotes the splicing of the short isoform of Bcl-x (Bcl-xs) through the SB1 regulatory element located in the first half of exon 2. Consistent with these results, we show evidence for in vitro and in vivo interaction of TCERG1 with the Bcl-x pre-mRNA. Transcription profile analysis reveals that the RNA sequences required for the effect of TCERG1 on Bcl-x alternative splicing coincide with a putative polymerase pause site. Furthermore, TCERG1 modifies the impact of a slow polymerase on Bcl-x alternative splicing. In support of a role for an elongation mechanism in the transcriptional control of Bcl-x alternative splicing, we found that TCERG1 modifies the amount of pre-mRNAs generated at distal regions of the endogenous Bcl-x. Most importantly, TCERG1 affects the rate of RNAPII transcription of endogenous human Bcl-x. We propose that TCERG1 modulates the elongation rate of RNAPII to relieve pausing, thereby activating the pro-apoptotic Bcl-xS 5’ splice site.
Project description:Alternative splicing of pre-mRNA is a prominent mechanism to generate protein diversity, yet its regulation is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate a direct role for histone modifications in alternative splicing. We find distinctive histone modification signatures which correlate with splicing outcome in a set of human genes. Modulation of histone modifications causes splice site switching. The mechanism for histone-mediated splice site selection involves a histone mark which is read by a chromatin protein, which in turn recruits a splicing regulator. These results outline an adaptor system for reading of histone marks by the pre-mRNA splicing machinery. To obtain an estimate of how many PTB-dependent alternative splicing events are regulated by SET2/MRG15-mediated recruitment of PTB, we carried out a genomewide comparative analysis of alternative splicing in hMSC cells depleted of either SETD2, MRG15 or PTB using specific siRNAs, or mock-depleted using a control siRNA.