Deep sequencing of pre-translational mRNPs reveals hidden flux through evolutionarily conserved alternative splicing nonsense-mediated decay pathways

Genome Biology

Scott Donovan¹  Alicia A. Bicknell¹  Carrie Kovalak²  Melissa J. Moore³  Mihir Metkar⁴ 

[1] Present Address: Moderna, 200 Technology Square, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA;RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 01605, Worcester, MA, USA;Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 01605, Worcester, MA, USA;RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 01605, Worcester, MA, USA;Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 01605, Worcester, MA, USA;Present Address: Moderna, 200 Technology Square, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA;RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 01605, Worcester, MA, USA;Present Address: Moderna, 200 Technology Square, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA;

关键词: Exon junctions;    mRNA isoforms;    AS-NMD;    RIPiT-Seq;    Pre-translational mRNPs;    Splicing noise;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13059-021-02309-y

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlternative splicing, which generates multiple mRNA isoforms from single genes, is crucial for the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression. The flux through competing splicing pathways cannot be determined by traditional RNA-Seq, however, because different mRNA isoforms can have widely differing decay rates. Indeed, some mRNA isoforms with extremely short half-lives, such as those subject to translation-dependent nonsense-mediated decay (AS-NMD), may be completely overlooked in even the most extensive RNA-Seq analyses.ResultsRNA immunoprecipitation in tandem (RIPiT) of exon junction complex components allows for purification of post-splicing mRNA-protein particles (mRNPs) not yet subject to translation (pre-translational mRNPs) and, therefore, translation-dependent mRNA decay. Here we compare exon junction complex RIPiT-Seq to whole cell RNA-Seq data from HEK293 cells. Consistent with expectation, the flux through known AS-NMD pathways is substantially higher than that captured by RNA-Seq. Our RIPiT-Seq also definitively demonstrates that the splicing machinery itself has no ability to detect reading frame. We identify thousands of previously unannotated splicing events; while many can be attributed to splicing noise, others are evolutionarily conserved events that produce new AS-NMD isoforms likely involved in maintenance of protein homeostasis. Several of these occur in genes whose overexpression has been linked to poor cancer prognosis.ConclusionsDeep sequencing of RNAs in post-splicing, pre-translational mRNPs provides a means to identify and quantify splicing events without the confounding influence of differential mRNA decay. For many known AS-NMD targets, the nonsense-mediated decay-linked alternative splicing pathway predominates. Exon junction complex RIPiT-Seq also revealed numerous conserved but previously unannotated AS-NMD events.

【 授权许可】

CC BY