Project description:To investigate the role of MSI1, SRRM3 and SRRM4 as a regulator of retina microexons (RetMICs) in vitro in humans, we have ectopically expressed these genes in HEK293 cells and performed RNA-seq.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:The mechanisms by which entire programs of gene regulation emerged during evolution are poorly understood. Neuronal microexons represent the most conserved class of alternative splicing in vertebrates and are critical for proper brain development and function. Here, we discover neural microexon programs in non-vertebrate species and trace their origin to bilaterian ancestors through the emergence of a previously uncharacterized ‘enhancer of microexons' (eMIC) protein domain. The eMIC domain originated as an alternative, neural-enriched splice isoform of the pan-eukaryotic Srrm2/SRm300 splicing factor gene, and subsequently became fixed in the vertebrate and neuronal-specific splicing regulator Srrm4/nSR100 and its paralog Srrm3. Remarkably, the eMIC domain is necessary and sufficient for microexon splicing, and functions by interacting with the earliest components required for exon recognition. The emergence of a novel domain with restricted expression in the nervous system thus resulted in the evolution of splicing programs that contributed to qualitatively expand neuronal molecular complexity in bilaterians.