Project description:Pre-mRNA splicing is a critical step in eukaryotic gene expression that contributes to proteomic, cellular, and developmental complexity. Small nuclear (sn)RNAs are core spliceosomal components; however, the extent to which differential expression of snRNA isoforms regulates splicing is completely unknown. This is partly due to difficulties in the accurate analysis of the spatial and temporal expression patterns of snRNAs. Here, we use high-throughput RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data to profile expression of four major snRNAs throughout Drosophila development. This analysis shows that individual isoforms of each snRNA have distinct expression patterns in the embryo, larva, and pharate adult stages. Expression of these isoforms is more heterogeneous during embryogenesis; as development progresses, a single isoform from each snRNA subtype gradually dominates expression. Despite the lack of stable snRNA orthologous groups during evolution, this developmental switching of snRNA isoforms also occurs in distantly related vertebrate species, such as Xenopus, mouse, and human. Our results indicate that expression of snRNA isoforms is regulated and lays the foundation for functional studies of individual snRNA isoforms.
Project description:Proper gene expression relies on a class of ubiquitously expressed, uridine-rich small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) transcribed by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). Vertebrate snRNAs are transcribed from a unique promoter, which is required for proper 3'-end formation, and cleavage of the nascent transcript involves the activity of a poorly understood set of proteins called the Integrator complex. To examine 3'-end formation in Drosophila melanogaster, we developed a cell-based reporter that monitors aberrant 3'-end formation of snRNA through the gain in expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). We used this reporter in Drosophila S2 cells to determine requirements for U7 snRNA 3'-end formation and found that processing was strongly dependent upon nucleotides located within the 3' stem-loop as well as sequences likely to comprise the Drosophila equivalent of the vertebrate 3' box. Substitution of the actin promoter for the snRNA promoter abolished proper 3'-end formation, demonstrating the conserved requirement for an snRNA promoter in Drosophila. We tested the requirement for all Drosophila Integrator subunits and found that Integrators 1, 4, 9, and 11 were essential for 3'-end formation and that Integrators 3 and 10 may be dispensable for processing. Depletion of cleavage and polyadenylation factors or of histone pre-mRNA processing factors did not affect U7 snRNA processing efficiency, demonstrating that the Integrator complex does not share components with the mRNA 3'-end processing machinery. Finally, flies harboring mutations in either Integrator 4 or 7 fail to complete development and accumulate significant levels of misprocessed snRNA in the larval stages.
Project description:The heterochromatin environment plays a central role in silencing genes associated with the malaria parasite's development, survival in the host, and transmission to the mosquito vector. However, the underlying mechanism regulating the dynamic chromatin structure is not understood yet. Here, we have uncovered that Plasmodium falciparum Rrp6, an orthologue of eukaryotic RNA exosome-associated RNase, controls the silencing of heterochromatic genes. PfRrp6 knockdown disrupted the singular expression of the GC-rich ncRNA RUF6 family, a known critical regulator of virulence gene expression, through the stabilization of the nascent transcripts. Mechanistic investigation showed that the accumulation of the multiple RUF6 ncRNAs triggered local chromatin remodeling in situ, which activated their adjacent var genes. Strikingly, chromatin isolation by RNA purification analysis (ChIRP-seq) revealed that a remarkable RUF6 ncRNA had interacted with distal heterochromatin regions directly and stimulated a global derepression effect on heterochromatic genes, including all variant gene families and the sexual commitment-associated regulator ap2-g gene. Collectively, Rrp6 appears to conduct the epigenetic surveillance of heterochromatic gene expression through controlling RUF6 levels, thereby securing antigenic variation and sexual commitment of malaria parasites during the infection of the host.IMPORTANCE Malaria remains a major public health and economic burden. The heterochromatin environment controls the silencing of genes associated with the fate of malaria parasites. Previous studies have demonstrated that a group of GC-rich ncRNAs (RUF6) is associated with the mutually exclusive expression of var genes, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, through a series of genetic manipulation and genome-wide multiomics analysis, we have identified the plasmodial orthologue of RNA exosome-associated Rrp6 as an upstream regulator of RUF6 expression and revealed that the dysregulation of RUF6 upon Rrp6 knockdown triggered local chromatin alteration, thereby activating most heterochromatic genes via direct interaction of RUF6 and distal gene loci. This finding not only uncovered the in-depth mechanism of RUF6-mediated regulation of heterochromatic genes but also identified Rrp6 as a novel regulator of gene expression in human malaria parasites, which provides a new target for developing intervention strategies against malaria.
Project description:The multiprotein exon junction complex (EJC) that is deposited upstream of spliced junctions orchestrates downstream events in the life of a metazoan mRNA, including its surveillance via the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway. However, the mechanism by which the spliceosome mediates EJC formation is not well understood. We show that human eIF4G-like spliceosomal protein (h)CWC22 directly interacts with the core EJC component eIF4AIII in vitro and in vivo; mutations at the predicted hCWC22/eIF4AIII interface disrupt association. In vivo depletion of hCWC22, as for yeast Cwc22p, causes a splicing defect, resulting in decreased levels of mature cellular mRNAs. Nonetheless, hCWC22 depletion yields increased levels of spliced RNA from the unusual nonsense codon-containing U22 host gene, which is a natural substrate of NMD. To test whether hCWC22 acts in NMD through coupling splicing to EJC deposition, we searched for mutations in hCWC22 that affect eIF4AIII deposition without affecting splicing. Addition of hCWC22(G168Y) with a mutation at the putative hCWC22/eIF4AIII interface exacerbates the defect in splicing-dependent deposition of eIF4AIII(T334V) with a mutation reported to be in direct contact with mRNA, linking hCWC22 to the process of EJC deposition in vitro. Importantly, the addition of hCWC22(G168Y) affects deposition of eIF4AIII(T334V) without inhibiting splicing or the efficiency of deposition of the endogenous eF4AIII(WT) in the same reaction, demonstrating hCWC22's specific role in eIF4AIII deposition in addition to its role in splicing. The essential splicing factor CWC22 has, therefore, acquired functions in EJC assembly and NMD during evolution from single-celled to complex eukaryotes.
Project description:A seven-subunit Lsm2-8 protein ring assembles on the U-rich 3' end of the U6 snRNA. A structure-guided mutational analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Lsm2-8 ring affords new insights to structure-function relations and genetic interactions of the Lsm subunits. Alanine scanning of 39 amino acids comprising the RNA-binding sites or intersubunit interfaces of Lsm2, Lsm3, Lsm4, Lsm5, and Lsm8 identified only one instance of lethality (Lsm3-R69A) and one severe growth defect (Lsm2-R63A), both involving amino acids that bind the 3'-terminal UUU trinucleotide. All other Ala mutations were benign with respect to vegetative growth. Tests of 235 pairwise combinations of benign Lsm mutants identified six instances of inter-Lsm synthetic lethality and 45 cases of nonlethal synthetic growth defects. Thus, Lsm2-8 ring function is buffered by a network of internal genetic redundancies. A salient finding was that otherwise lethal single-gene deletions lsm2Δ, lsm3Δ, lsm4Δ, lsm5, and lsm8Δ were rescued by overexpression of U6 snRNA from a high-copy plasmid. Moreover, U6 overexpression rescued myriad lsmΔ lsmΔ double-deletions and lsmΔ lsmΔ lsmΔ triple-deletions. We find that U6 overexpression also rescues a lethal deletion of the U6 snRNP protein subunit Prp24 and that Prp24 overexpression bypasses the essentiality of the U6-associated Lsm subunits. Our results indicate that abetting U6 snRNA is the only essential function of the yeast Lsm2-8 proteins.
Project description:Human proteins 15.5K and hPrp31 are components of the major spliceosomal U4 snRNP and of the minor spliceosomal U4atac snRNP. The two proteins bind to related 5'-stem loops (5'SLs) of the U4 and U4atac snRNAs in a strictly sequential fashion. The primary binding 15.5K protein binds at K-turns that exhibit identical sequences in the two snRNAs. However, RNA sequences contacted by the secondary binding hPrp31 differ in U4 and U4atac snRNAs, and the mechanism by which hPrp31 achieves its dual specificity is presently unknown. We show by crystal structure analysis that the capping pentaloops of the U4 and U4atac 5'SLs adopt different structures in the ternary hPrp31-15.5K-snRNA complexes. In U4atac snRNA, a noncanonical base pair forms across the pentaloop, based on which the RNA establishes more intimate interactions with hPrp31 compared with U4 snRNA. Stacking of hPrp31-His270 on the noncanonical base pair at the base of the U4atac pentaloop recapitulates intramolecular stabilizing principles known from the UUCG and GNRA families of RNA tetraloops. Rational mutagenesis corroborated the importance of the noncanonical base pair and the U4atac-specific hPrp31-RNA interactions for complex stability. The more extensive hPrp31-U4atac snRNA interactions are in line with a higher stability of the U4atac compared with the U4-based ternary complex seen in gel-shift assays, which may explain how U4atac snRNA can compete with the more abundant U4 snRNA for the same protein partners in vivo.
Project description:In fission yeast and plants, RNA processing and degradation contribute to heterochromatin silencing, alongside conserved pathways of transcriptional repression. It has not been known whether similar pathways exist in metazoans. Here, we describe a pathway of silencing in Caenorhabditis elegans somatic cells, in which the highly conserved RNA-binding complex LSM2-8 contributes selectively to the repression of heterochromatic reporters and endogenous genes bearing the Polycomb mark, histone H3K27me3. This acts by degrading selected transcripts through the XRN-2 exoribonuclease. Disruption of the LSM2-8 pathway leads to mRNA stabilization. Unlike previously described pathways of heterochromatic RNA degradation, LSM2-8-mediated RNA degradation does not target nor require H3K9 methylation. Intriguingly, loss of this pathway coincides with a localized reduction in H3K27me3 at lsm-8-sensitive loci. We have thus uncovered a mechanism of RNA degradation that selectively contributes to the silencing of a subset of H3K27me3-marked genes, revealing a previously unrecognized layer of post-transcriptional control in metazoan heterochromatin.
Project description:In trypanosomes, mRNAs are processed by spliced leader (SL) trans splicing, in which a capped SL, derived from SL RNA, is spliced onto the 5' end of each mRNA. This process is mediated by the spliceosome, a large and dynamic RNA-protein machinery consisting of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) and non-snRNP proteins. Due to early evolutionary divergence, the amino acid sequences of trypanosome splicing factors exhibit limited similarity to those of their eukaryotic orthologs making their bioinformatic identification challenging. Most of the ~ 60 protein components that have been characterized thus far are snRNP proteins because, in contrast to individual snRNPs, purification of intact spliceosomes has not been achieved yet. Here, we characterize the non-snRNP PRP19 complex of Trypanosoma brucei. We identified a complex that contained the core subunits PRP19, CDC5, PRL1, and SPF27, as well as PRP17, SKIP and PPIL1. Three of these proteins were newly annotated. The PRP19 complex was associated primarily with the activated spliceosome and, accordingly, SPF27 silencing blocked the first splicing step. Interestingly, SPF27 silencing caused an accumulation of SL RNA with a hypomethylated cap that closely resembled the defect observed previously upon depletion of the cyclin-dependent kinase CRK9, indicating that both proteins may function in spliceosome activation.
Project description:RecJ is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-specific 5'-3' exonuclease that plays an important role in DNA repair and recombination. To elucidate how RecJ achieves its high specificity for ssDNA, we determined the entire structures of RecJ both in a ligand-free form and in a complex with Mn(2+) or Mg(2+) by x-ray crystallography. The entire RecJ consists of four domains that form a molecule with an O-like structure. One of two newly identified domains had structural similarities to an oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB) fold. The OB fold domain alone could bind to DNA, indicating that this domain is a novel member of the OB fold superfamily. The truncated RecJ containing only the core domain exhibited much lower affinity for the ssDNA substrate compared with intact RecJ. These results support the hypothesis that these structural features allow specific binding of RecJ to ssDNA. In addition, the structure of the RecJ-Mn(2+) complex suggests that the hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by RecJ proceeds through a two-metal ion mechanism.