Project description:We asked whether the human drosha protein, an RNase III homolog known to process microRNAs (miRNAs), might also be a small nuclear RNA (snRNA) 3' processing factor. Using retroviral siRNA silencing constructs, we stably knocked down drosha protein to nearly undetectable levels. Knockdown cells exhibited reduced growth rates and viability compared to controls, but no accumulation of unprocessed U2 snRNA precursors. In fungi, RNase III homologs process rRNA precursors and certain mRNAs. Although rRNA processing appears to be normal in the drosha knockdown cells, expression microarray analysis revealed misregulation of several mRNAs involved in cell growth and proliferation. Curiously, drosha knockdown appeared to downregulate the predicted mRNA targets of several miRNAs Keywords: siRNA knockdown
Project description:We asked whether the human drosha protein, an RNase III homolog known to process microRNAs (miRNAs), might also be a small nuclear RNA (snRNA) 3' processing factor. Using retroviral siRNA silencing constructs, we stably knocked down drosha protein to nearly undetectable levels. Knockdown cells exhibited reduced growth rates and viability compared to controls, but no accumulation of unprocessed U2 snRNA precursors. In fungi, RNase III homologs process rRNA precursors and certain mRNAs. Although rRNA processing appears to be normal in the drosha knockdown cells, expression microarray analysis revealed misregulation of several mRNAs involved in cell growth and proliferation. Curiously, drosha knockdown appeared to downregulate the predicted mRNA targets of several miRNAs Experiment Overall Design: The experimental goal was to evaluate gene expression changes induced by siRNA knockdown of drosha. Four samples of HeLa cells were transfected with retroviral siRNA expression vectors: two replicates of an anti-GFP siRNA vector (siGFP) and two different anti-drosha siRNA vectors (sidroshaB and sidroshaC). Cells were selected with puromycin 24 hours after transfection and harvested 72 hours after transfection. Trizol-harvested RNA was processed with standard Affymetrix protocols and hybridized to U133Plus2.0 GeneChips. Signals were scaled to an arbitrary global mean value of 800.
Project description:RNAi-mediated knockdown of DICER1 and DROSHA, enzymes critically involved in miRNA biogenesis, has been postulated to affect the homeostasis and the angiogenic capacity of human endothelial cells. To re-evaluate this issue, we reduced the expression of DICER1 or DROSHA by RNAi-mediated knockdown and subsequently investigated the effect of these interventions on the angiogenic capacity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro (proliferation, migration, tube formation, endothelial cell spheroid sprouting) and in a HUVEC xenograft assay in immune incompetent NSGTM mice in vivo. In contrast to previous reports, neither knockdown of DICER1 nor knockdown of DROSHA profoundly affected migration or tube formation of HUVEC or the angiogenic capacity of HUVEC in vivo. Furthermore, knockdown of DICER1 and the combined knockdown of DICER1 and DROSHA tended to increase VEGF-induced BrdU incorporation and induced angiogenic sprouting from HUVEC spheroids. Consistent with these observations, global proteomic analyses showed that knockdown of DICER1 or DROSHA only moderately altered HUVEC protein expression profiles but additively reduced, for example, expression of the angiogenesis inhibitor thrombospondin-1. In conclusion, global reduction of miRNA biogenesis by knockdown of DICER1 or DROSHA does not inhibit the angiogenic capacity of HUVEC. Further studies are therefore needed to elucidate the influence of these enzymes in the context of human endothelial cell-related angiogenesis.
Project description:SIRT7 is an NAD+-dependent protein deacetylase with important roles in ribosome biogenesis and cell proliferation. Previous studies have established that SIRT7 is associated with RNA polymerase I, interacts with pre-rRNA and promotes rRNA synthesis. Here we show that SIRT7 is also associated with snoRNAs that are involved in pre-rRNA processing and rRNA maturation. Knockdown of SIRT7 impairs U3 snoRNA-dependent early cleavage steps that are necessary for generation of 18S rRNA. Mechanistically, SIRT7 deacetylates U3-55k, a core component of the U3 snoRNP complex, and reversible acetylation of U3-55k modulates the association of U3-55k with U3 snoRNA. Deacetylation by SIRT7 enhances U3-55k binding to U3 snoRNA, which is a prerequisite for pre-rRNA processing. Under stress conditions, SIRT7 is released from nucleoli, leading to hyperacetylation of U3-55k and attenuation of prerRNA processing. The results reveal a multifaceted role of SIRT7 in ribosome biogenesis, regulating both transcription and processing of rRNA. CLIP-seq was performed in Flag-SIRT7-293T cells.
Project description:Anaysis of mRNA changes in HeLa cells following knockdown of Drosha or DGCR8. Drosha is a nuclear RNase III that carries out microRNA (miRNA) processing by cleaving primary microRNA transcript (pri-miRNA). DGCR8 is an essential co-factor of Drosha. Keywords: gene expression array-based (RNA / in situ oligonucleotide)
Project description:Maturation of canonical microRNA (miRNA) is initiated by DROSHA that cleaves the primary transcript (pri-miRNA). Over 1,800 miRNA loci are annotated in humans, but it remains largely unknown if and at which sites the pri-miRNAs are cleaved by DROSHA. Here we performed in vitro processing on a full set of human pri-miRNAs (miRBase v21) followed by sequencing. This comprehensive profiling enabled us to classify miRNAs based on DROSHA-dependence and map their cleavage sites with respective processing efficiency measures. Only 758 pri-miRNAs are confidently processed by DROSHA, while the majority may be non-canonical or false entries. Analyses of the DROSHA-dependent pri-miRNAs show key cis-elements for processing. We observe widespread alternative processing as well as unproductive cleavage events such as “nick” or “inverse” processing. SRSF3 is a broad-acting auxiliary factor modulating alternative processing and suppressing unproductive processing. The profiling data and methods developed in this study will allow systematic analyses of miRNA regulation.
Project description:Anaysis of mRNA changes in HeLa cells following knockdown of Drosha or DGCR8. Drosha is a nuclear RNase III that carries out microRNA (miRNA) processing by cleaving primary microRNA transcript (pri-miRNA). DGCR8 is an essential co-factor of Drosha. Experiment Overall Design: siRNA against Drosha or DGCR8 were trasnfected into HeLa cells. siRNA against GFP was used as a control. Biologically duplicated total RNAs were prepared from HeLa cells, 24 hrs and 48 hrs after siRNA transfection.
Project description:SIRT7 is an NAD+-dependent protein deacetylase with important roles in ribosome biogenesis and cell proliferation. Previous studies have established that SIRT7 is associated with RNA polymerase I, interacts with pre-rRNA and promotes rRNA synthesis. Here we show that SIRT7 is also associated with snoRNAs that are involved in pre-rRNA processing and rRNA maturation. Knockdown of SIRT7 impairs U3 snoRNA-dependent early cleavage steps that are necessary for generation of 18S rRNA. Mechanistically, SIRT7 deacetylates U3-55k, a core component of the U3 snoRNP complex, and reversible acetylation of U3-55k modulates the association of U3-55k with U3 snoRNA. Deacetylation by SIRT7 enhances U3-55k binding to U3 snoRNA, which is a prerequisite for pre-rRNA processing. Under stress conditions, SIRT7 is released from nucleoli, leading to hyperacetylation of U3-55k and attenuation of prerRNA processing. The results reveal a multifaceted role of SIRT7 in ribosome biogenesis, regulating both transcription and processing of rRNA.
Project description:Dyskerin is a pseudouridine synthase involved in fundamental cellular processes (including rRNA and snRNA modification and telomere stabilization), whose function is altered in X-linked dyskeratosis congenita and cancer. Dyskerin role in ribosome processing was suggested to underlie the alterations in mRNA translation described in cells lacking dyskerin function. We compared the protein contents of 5 replicates of ribosomal preparations from control or dyskerin-depleted human cells.
Project description:Epigenetic methyl-CpG silencing of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes is thought to down-regulate rRNA synthesis in mammals. In contrast, we now show that CpG methylation in fact positively influences rRNA synthesis and processing. Human HCT116 cells, inactivated for DNMT1 and DNMT3b or treated with aza-dC, lack CpG methylation and reactivate a large fraction of normally silent rRNA genes. Unexpectedly, these cells display reduced rRNA synthesis and processing, and accumulate unprocessed 45S rRNA. Reactivation of the rRNA genes is associated with their cryptic transcription by RNA polymerase II. Ectopic expression of cryptic rRNA gene transcripts recapitulates the defects associated with loss of CpG methylation. The data demonstrate that rRNA gene silencing prevents cryptic RNA polymerase II transcription of these genes. Lack of silencing leads to the partial disruption of rRNA synthesis and rRNA processing, providing an unexpected explanation for the cytotoxic effects of loss of CpG methylation. Agilent custom microarray analyses of transcripts from sense and antisense strands of the human rRNA genes present in total nuclear RNA from HCT116-DNMT1-/-;DNMT3b-/- (DKO) and HCT116 (PS) cells. The DKO/PS RNA ratio was normalized within the 5â region of the 45S ribosomal RNA, since this sense coding region was found by quantitative Northern and S1-mapping analyses to equally present in the RNA pools from both cells (as compared to total RNA levels and 18S and 28S levels). The distribution for sense RNAs from the coding region is strongly influenced by the predominant RPI 45S rRNA transcript and hence peaks at 0, the DKO and PS 45S rRNA signals having been normalized. 60-mer probes were designed to tile Human rDNA (GenBank accession U13369) on both strands using ArrayOligoSelector (Wardle et al., 2006). A total of 1,146 different non-overlapping probes (573 for each DNA strand) were designed to cover the 43 kb of human rDNA and each printed in triplicate on the array. The experiment was performed using a dye-swap duplicate analysis. The microarrays were scanned on a G2565CA DNA microarray scanner (Agilent Technologies) and the quantification performed using the Feature Extraction software (Agilent technologies). The data were analyzed using the LIMMA software package in R (Smyth and Speed, 2003).