Systematic Discovery of Structural Elements Governing Mammalian mRNA Stability

ABSTRACT: Decoding post-transcriptional regulatory programs underlying gene expression is a crucial step toward a predictive dynamical understanding of cellular state transitions. Despite recent systematic efforts, the sequence determinants of such mechanisms remain largely uncharacterized. An important obstacle in revealing these elements stems from the contribution of local secondary structures in defining interaction partners in a variety of regulatory contexts, including but not limited to transcript stability, alternative splicing and localization. There are many documented instances where the presence of a structural regulatory element dictates alternative splicing patterns (e.g. human cardiac troponin T) or affects other aspects of RNA biology. Thus, a full characterization of post-transcriptional regulatory programs requires capturing information provided by both local secondary structures and the underlying sequence. We have developed a computational framework based on context-free grammars and mutual information that systematically explores the immense space of structural elements and reveals motifs that are significantly informative of genome-wide measurements of RNA behavior. The application of this framework to genome-wide mammalian mRNA stability data revealed eight highly significant elements with substantial structural information, for the strongest of which we showed a major role in global mRNA regulation. Through biochemistry, mass-spectrometry, and in vivo binding studies, we identified HNRPA2B1 as the key regulator that binds this element and stabilizes a large number of its target genes. Ultimately, we created a global post-transcriptional regulatory map based on the identity of the discovered linear and structural cis-regulatory elements, their regulatory interactions and their target pathways. This approach can also be employed to reveal the structural elements that modulate other aspects of RNA behavior. This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE35800 | GEO | 2012/02/28

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA152199

REPOSITORIES: GEO