Project description:Long interspersed element-1 (LINE-1 or L1) amplifies via retrotransposition. Active L1s encode 2 proteins (ORF1p and ORF2p) that bind their encoding transcript to promote retrotransposition in cis The L1-encoded proteins also promote the retrotransposition of small-interspersed element RNAs, noncoding RNAs, and messenger RNAs in trans Some L1-mediated retrotransposition events consist of a copy of U6 RNA conjoined to a variably 5'-truncated L1, but how U6/L1 chimeras are formed requires elucidation. Here, we report the following: The RNA ligase RtcB can join U6 RNAs ending in a 2',3'-cyclic phosphate to L1 RNAs containing a 5'-OH in vitro; depletion of endogenous RtcB in HeLa cell extracts reduces U6/L1 RNA ligation efficiency; retrotransposition of U6/L1 RNAs leads to U6/L1 pseudogene formation; and a unique cohort of U6/L1 chimeric RNAs are present in multiple human cell lines. Thus, these data suggest that U6 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) and RtcB participate in the formation of chimeric RNAs and that retrotransposition of chimeric RNA contributes to interindividual genetic variation.
Project description:Maintenance of the intracellular levels of the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is essential for a wide variety of biological processes. We demonstrate that the N6-adenosine methyltransferase METTL16 regulates expression of MAT2A, which encodes the only SAM synthetase expressed in most cells. Upon SAM depletion by methionine starvation, cells induce MAT2A expression by enhanced splicing of a retained intron. Induction requires METTL16 and its methylation substrate, a vertebrate conserved hairpin (hp1) in the MAT2A 3´ UTR. Increasing METTL16 occupancy on the MAT2A 3´ UTR is sufficient to induce efficient splicing. We propose that under SAM-limiting conditions, METTL16 occupancy on hp1 increases due to inefficient enzymatic turnover, which in turn promotes MAT2A splicing. Interestingly, human and S. pombe METTL16 methylate the U6 spliceosomal snRNA at a sequence identical to hp1. These observations suggest that the conserved U6 snRNA methyltransferase evolved an additional function in vertebrates to regulate SAM homeostasis.
Project description:Mpn1 proteins are evolutionarily conserved exonucleases that modify spliceosomal U6 small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) post-transcriptionally. Mutations in the human MPN1 gene are associated to the genodermatosis Clericuzio-type poikiloderma with neutropenia (PN). Mpn1 deficiency leads to aberrant U6 3M-bM-^@M-^Y end processing and accelerated U6 decay through unknown molecular mechanisms. Here we show that in mpn1M-NM-^T fission yeast cells U6 is barely bound by the protective Lsm2-8 complex, undergoes extensive oligoadenylation and is degraded by the nuclear RNA exonuclease Rrp6 independently of the poly(A) polymerase Cid14/Trf4. Mpn1 processes U6 in a spliceosome-dependent manner, as mutant U6 molecules that fail to join the spliceosome are not substrates for Mpn1. Moreover, human U6atac, the U6-like snRNA of the minor spliceosome, is a novel substrate for hMpn1. We unveil mechanistic details of a new U6 degradation pathway and further corroborate the notion that inefficient canonical and minor pre-mRNA splicing promotes PN. the 3' termini of U6 or tagged-U6 species from the indicated mutant cells were compared to wt yeast strain
Project description:Transposable elements comprise more than 45% of the human genome and long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1 or L1) is the only autonomous mobile element remaining active. Since its identification, it has been proposed that L1 contributes to the mobilization and amplification of other cellular RNAs and more recently, experimental demonstrations of this function has been described for many transcripts such as Alu, a nonautonomous mobile element, cellular mRNAs, or small noncoding RNAs. Detailed examination of the mobilization of various cellular RNAs revealed distinct pathways by which they could be recruited during retrotransposition; template choice or template switching. Here, by analyzing genomic structures and retrotransposition signatures associated with small nuclear RNA (snRNA) sequences, we identified distinct recruiting steps during the L1 retrotransposition cycle for the formation of snRNA-processed pseudogenes. Interestingly, some of the identified recruiting steps take place in the nucleus. Moreover, after comparison to other vertebrate genomes, we established that snRNA amplification by template switching is common to many LINE families from several LINE clades. Finally, we suggest that U6 snRNA copies can serve as markers of L1 retrotransposition dynamics in mammalian genomes.
Project description:Mpn1 proteins are evolutionarily conserved exonucleases that modify spliceosomal U6 small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) post-transcriptionally. Mutations in the human MPN1 gene are associated to the genodermatosis Clericuzio-type poikiloderma with neutropenia (PN). Mpn1 deficiency leads to aberrant U6 3’ end processing and accelerated U6 decay through unknown molecular mechanisms. Here we show that in mpn1Δ fission yeast cells U6 is barely bound by the protective Lsm2-8 complex, undergoes extensive oligoadenylation and is degraded by the nuclear RNA exonuclease Rrp6 independently of the poly(A) polymerase Cid14/Trf4. Mpn1 processes U6 in a spliceosome-dependent manner, as mutant U6 molecules that fail to join the spliceosome are not substrates for Mpn1. Moreover, human U6atac, the U6-like snRNA of the minor spliceosome, is a novel substrate for hMpn1. We unveil mechanistic details of a new U6 degradation pathway and further corroborate the notion that inefficient canonical and minor pre-mRNA splicing promotes PN.
Project description:The La-related protein LARP7 has been mainly described as a component of the 7SK small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) complex, which negatively regulates RNA polymerase II by sequestering the positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb). In our studies, we discovered a novel, 7SK snRNP-independent function of LARP7. We show that LARP7 interacts with the U6 spliceosomal RNA as well as with the small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) directing the 2'-O-methylations of U6. To investigate the relevance of this interaction, U6 or U2 snRNAs were purified from total RNA by pulldown of biotinylated antisense oligonucleotides and the occurence of 2’-O-methylations was investigated by RiboMeth-seq analysis. A comparison between U6 and U2 snRNA isolated from HEK293 wildtype or LARP7 knockout cell lines revealed that 2’-O-methylations of the U6 snRNA are specifically lost in the absence of LARP7. Alazami syndrome is a form of primary dwarfism associated with mutations in the LARP7 gene. RiboMeth-seq analyses performed with RNA isolated from blood samples of two Alazami patients or healthy parents as well as from B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCLs) derived from an Alazami patient and from a healthy parent confirmed the impact of mutant LARP7 protein variants on the 2’-O-methylation profile of the U6 snRNA.
Project description:How the relatively evolutionarily conserved spliceosome is able to manage the enormously expanded number of splicing events that occur in humans (~200,000 vs. ~400 reported for yeast) is not well understood. Here, we show deposition of one RNA modification-N2-methylguanosine (m2G)-on the G72 nucleoside of U6 snRNA (known to function as the catalytic center of the spliceosome) results in profoundly increased pre-mRNA splicing activity in human cells. This U6 m2G72 modification is conserved among vertebrates. Further, we demonstrate that THUMPD2 is the methyltransferase responsible for U6 m2G72 and show that it interacts with an auxiliary protein (TRMT112) to specifically recognize both sequence and structural elements of U6. THUMPD2 KO blocks U6 m2G72 and down-regulates the pre-mRNA splicing activity of major spliceosome, yielding thousands of changed alternative splicing events of endogenous pre-mRNAs. Notably, the aberrantly spliced pre-mRNA population of the THUMPD2 KO cells elicits the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway and restricts cell proliferation. We also show that THUMPD2-mediated control of the U6 m2G72 modification is associated with age-related macular degeneration and retinal function. Our study thus demonstrates how an RNA epigenetic modification of the major spliceosome differentially regulates global mRNA splicing and impacts physiology and disease.