Project description:The Drosha-DGCR8 complex (Microprocessor) is required for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. DGCR8 contains two double-stranded RNA binding motifs that recognize the RNA substrate, whereas Drosha functions as the endonuclease. We have used high-throughput sequencing of RNAs isolated by crosslinking immunoprecipitation (HITS-CLIP) to identify endogenous RNA targets of DGCR8 in mammalian cells. Unexpectedly, miRNAs were not the most abundant targets. DGCR8-bound RNAs comprised several hundred mRNAs as well as snoRNAs and long non-coding RNAs. We found that DGCR8 together with Drosha controls the abundance of several mRNAs, as well as long non-coding RNAs, such as MALAT-1. By contrast, the DGCR8-mediated cleavage of snoRNAs is independent of Drosha, suggesting the involvement of DGCR8 in cellular complexes with other endonucleases. Interestingly, binding of DGCR8 to cassette exons, acts as a novel mechanism to regulate the relative abundance of alternatively spliced isoforms. Collectively, these data provide new insights in the complex role of DGCR8 in controlling the fate of several classes of RNAs.
Project description:The Drosha-DGCR8 complex (Microprocessor) is required for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. DGCR8 contains two double-stranded RNA binding motifs that recognize the RNA substrate, whereas Drosha functions as the endonuclease. We have used high-throughput sequencing of RNAs isolated by crosslinking immunoprecipitation (HITS-CLIP) to identify endogenous RNA targets of DGCR8 in mammalian cells. Unexpectedly, miRNAs were not the most abundant targets. DGCR8-bound RNAs comprised several hundred mRNAs as well as snoRNAs and long non-coding RNAs. We found that DGCR8 together with Drosha controls the abundance of several mRNAs, as well as long non-coding RNAs, such as MALAT-1. By contrast, the DGCR8-mediated cleavage of snoRNAs is independent of Drosha, suggesting the involvement of DGCR8 in cellular complexes with other endonucleases. Interestingly, binding of DGCR8 to cassette exons, acts as a novel mechanism to regulate the relative abundance of alternatively spliced isoforms. Collectively, these data provide new insights in the complex role of DGCR8 in controlling the fate of several classes of RNAs. Comparison of RNAs associated to both endogenous (D8) and overexpressed (T7) DGCR8 in HEK293T cells
Project description:In mammalian cells, primary miRNAs are cleaved at their hairpin structures by the Microprocessor complex, whose core is composed of DROSHA and DGCR8. Here, we show that 5’flanking regions, resulting from Microprocessor cleavage, are targeted by the RNA exosome in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). This is facilitated by a physical link between DGCR8 and the nuclear exosome targeting (NEXT) component ZCCHC8. Surprisingly, however, both biochemical and mutagenesis studies demonstrate that a variant NEXT complex, containing the RNA helicase MTR4 but devoid of the RNA-binding protein RBM7, is the active entity. This Microprocessor-NEXT variant also targets stem-loop containing RNAs expressed from other genomic regions, such as enhancers. In contrast, Microprocessor does not contribute to the turnover of less structured NEXT substrates. Our results therefore demonstrate that MTR4-ZCCHC8 can link to either RBM7 or DGCR8/DROSHA to target different RNA substrates depending on their structural context.
Project description:DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8) is best known as the RNA binding subunit of the microprocessor complex required for canonical microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. Whether DGCR8 also exerts a direct, microprocessor independent function in the RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription cycle remains unclear. Here, we combined rapid, acute protein depletion with nascent transcription profiling and uncovered a non-canonical role for DGCR8 in transcriptional control in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). We found that DGCR8 broadly occupies promoters and transcription start sites (TSSs) with limited co occupancy by its catalytic microprocessor partner DROSHA. Acute DGCR8 depletion triggers an immediate, genome wide reduction in nascent RNA synthesis that is not phenocopied by acute DROSHA depletion. Mechanistically, DGCR8 loss decreases Pol II engagement at promoters and induces a pervasive blockade in promoter proximal pause release, indicating a direct requirement for DGCR8 in the transition to productive elongation. We further identified physical interactions linking DGCR8 to Enhancer of Rudimentary Homolog (ERH) and the elongation factor SPT5, and showed that acute ERH depletion similarly suppresses nascent transcription. Together, our data implicate a potential model in which promoter bound DGCR8 facilitates Pol II pause release through an ERH–SPT5 linked regulatory network, establishing DGCR8 as a non canonical regulator of the core transcription machinery.
Project description:Drosha is a type III RNAse, which plays a critical role in miRNA biogenesis. Drosha and its double-stranded RNA-binding partner protein Pasha/DGCR8 likely recognize and cleave miRNA precursor RNAs or pri-miRNA hairpins co-transcriptionally. To identify RNAs processed by Drosha, we used tiling microarrays to examine transcripts after depletion of drosha mRNA with dsRNA in Drosophila Schneider S2 cells. This strategy identified 137 Drosha-regulated RNAs, including 11 putative pri-miRNAs comprising 15 annotated miRNAs. Most of the identified pri-miRNAs seem extremely large, >10 kilobases as revealed by both the Drosha knock down strategy and by RNA PolII chromatin IP followed by Drosophila tiling microarrays. Surprisingly, more than a hundred additional RNAs not annotated as miRNAs are under Drosha control and are likely to be direct targets of Drosha action. This is because many of them encode annotated genes, and unlike bona fide pri-miRNAs, they are not affected by depletion of the miRNA processing factor, dicer-1. Moreover, application of the evofold analysis software indicates that at least 25 of the Drosha-regulated RNAs contain evolutionarily conserved hairpins similar to those recognized by the Drosha-Pasha/DGCR8 complex in pri-miRNAs. One of these hairpins is located in the 5′ UTR of both pasha and mammalian DGCR8. These observations suggest that a negative feedback loop acting on pasha mRNA may regulate the miRNA-biogenesis pathway: i.e., excess Drosha cleaves pasha/DGCR8 primary transcripts and leads to a reduction in pasha/DGCR8 mRNA levels and Pasha/DGCR8 synthesis. Keywords: time course, ChIP-chip
Project description:In mammalian cells, primary miRNAs are cleaved at their hairpin structures by the Microprocessor complex, whose core is composed of DROSHA and DGCR8. Here, we show that 5’flanking regions, resulting from Microprocessor cleavage, are targeted by the RNA exosome in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). This is facilitated by a physical link between DGCR8 and the nuclear exosome targeting (NEXT) component ZCCHC8. Surprisingly, however, both biochemical and mutagenesis studies demonstrate that a variant NEXT complex, containing the RNA helicase MTR4 but devoid of the RNA-binding protein RBM7, is the active entity. This Microprocessor-NEXT variant also targets stem-loop containing RNAs expressed from other genomic regions, such as enhancers. In contrast, Microprocessor does not contribute to the turnover of less structured NEXT substrates. Our results therefore demonstrate that MTR4-ZCCHC8 can link to either RBM7 or DGCR8/DROSHA to target different RNA substrates depending on their structural context.