Project description:Motivation: Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation generates mRNA 3´ isoforms in a cell type- and tissue-specific manner. Due to finite available RNA sequencing data of organisms with vast cell type complexity, currently available gene annotation resources are incomplete, which poses significant challenges to the comprehensive interpretation and quantification of transcriptomes. Results: We developed 3'GAmES, a stand-alone analysis pipeline to identify and annotate novel (cell-type-specific) mRNA 3´ isoforms from 3' mRNA sequencing datasets. When applied to mouse embryonic stem cells or Zebrafish embryos, 3'GAmES expands currently available mRNA 3' annotations by 47% and 57%, respectively; and the resulting annotations significantly improve comprehensive gene-tag counting by cost-effective 3' mRNA sequencing to more accurately mirror whole-transcriptome RNAseq measurements. As a stand-alone analysis tool, 3'GAmES systematically augments cell type-specific transcript annotations and increases the robustness of quantitative gene expression profiling by 3' mRNA sequencing.
Project description:Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation generates mRNA 3' isoforms in a cell type-specific manner. Due to finite available RNA sequencing data of organisms with vast cell type complexity, currently available gene annotation resources are incomplete, which poses significant challenges to the comprehensive interpretation and quantification of transcriptomes. In this chapter, we introduce 3'GAmES, a stand-alone computational pipeline for the identification and quantification of novel mRNA 3'end isoforms from 3'mRNA sequencing data. 3'GAmES expands available repositories and improves comprehensive gene-tag counting by cost-effective 3' mRNA sequencing, faithfully mirroring whole-transcriptome RNAseq measurements. By employing R and bash shell scripts (assembled in a Singularity container) 3'GAmES systematically augments cell type-specific 3' ends of RNA polymerase II transcripts and increases the sensitivity of quantitative gene expression profiling by 3' mRNA sequencing. Public access: https://github.com/AmeresLab/3-GAmES.git.
Project description:Understanding the physiological relevance of structures in mammalian mRNAs remains elusive, especially considering the global unfolding of mRNA structures in eukaryotic organisms recently examined, as well as the decade-long observation that mRNAs generally seem no more likely than random sequences to be stably folded. Here we show that RNA secondary structures, mostly weak and close-to-random, facilitate the 3′-end processing of thousands of human mRNAs by juxtaposing poly(A) signals (PASs) and cleavage sites that are otherwise too far apart. Folding of these 3′-end structures also enhances mRNA stability. Global structure probing shows that 3′-end regions are indeed folded in cells despite substantial unfolding of PAS-upstream regions. Analyses of thousands of ectopically expressed variants prove that folding both enhances processing and increases stability. Mutagenesis of a genomic locus further implicates structure-controlled processing in regulating neighboring gene expression. These results reveal widespread roles for RNA structure in mammalian mRNA biogenesis and metabolism.
Project description:Sensory experience influences the establishment of neural connectivity through molecular mechanisms that remain unclear. Here, we employ single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to investigate the contribution of sensory-driven gene expression to synaptic refinement in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, a region of the brain that processes visual information. We find that visual experience induces the expression of the cytokine receptor Fn14 in excitatory thalamocortical neurons. By combining electrophysiological and structural techniques, we show that Fn14 is dispensable for early phases of refinement mediated by spontaneous activity, but that Fn14 is essential for refinement during a later, experience-dependent period of development. Refinement deficits in mice lacking Fn14 are associated with functionally weaker and structurally smaller retinogeniculate inputs, indicating that Fn14 mediates both functional and anatomical rearrangements in response to sensory experience. These findings identify Fn14 as a molecular link between sensory-driven gene expression and vision-sensitive refinement in the brain.
Project description:Sensory experience influences the establishment of neural connectivity through molecular mechanisms that remain unclear. Here, we employ single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to investigate the contribution of sensory-driven gene expression to synaptic refinement in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, a region of the brain that processes visual information. We find that visual experience induces the expression of the cytokine receptor Fn14 in excitatory thalamocortical neurons. By combining electrophysiological and structural techniques, we show that Fn14 is dispensable for early phases of refinement mediated by spontaneous activity, but that Fn14 is essential for refinement during a later, experience-dependent period of development. Refinement deficits in mice lacking Fn14 are associated with functionally weaker and structurally smaller retinogeniculate inputs, indicating that Fn14 mediates both functional and anatomical rearrangements in response to sensory experience. These findings identify Fn14 as a molecular link between sensory-driven gene expression and vision-sensitive refinement in the brain.
Project description:Understanding the physiological relevance of structures in mammalian mRNAs remains elusive, especially considering the global unfolding of mRNA structures in eukaryotic organisms recently examined, as well as the decade-long observation that mRNAs generally seem no more likely than random sequences to be stably folded. Here we show that RNA secondary structures, mostly weak and close-to-random, facilitate the 3′-end processing of thousands of human mRNAs by juxtaposing poly(A) signals (PASs) and cleavage sites that are otherwise too far apart. Folding of these 3′-end structures also enhances mRNA stability. Global structure probing shows that 3′-end regions are indeed folded in cells despite substantial unfolding of PAS-upstream regions. Analyses of thousands of ectopically expressed variants prove that folding both enhances processing and increases stability. Mutagenesis of a genomic locus further implicates structure-controlled processing in regulating neighboring gene expression. These results reveal widespread roles for RNA structure in mammalian mRNA biogenesis and metabolism.
Project description:Understanding the physiological relevance of structures in mammalian mRNAs remains elusive, especially considering the global unfolding of mRNA structures in eukaryotic organisms recently examined, as well as the decade-long observation that mRNAs generally seem no more likely than random sequences to be stably folded. Here we show that RNA secondary structures, mostly weak and close-to-random, facilitate the 3′-end processing of thousands of human mRNAs by juxtaposing poly(A) signals (PASs) and cleavage sites that are otherwise too far apart. Folding of these 3′-end structures also enhances mRNA stability. Global structure probing shows that 3′-end regions are indeed folded in cells despite substantial unfolding of PAS-upstream regions. Analyses of thousands of ectopically expressed variants prove that folding both enhances processing and increases stability. Mutagenesis of a genomic locus further implicates structure-controlled processing in regulating neighboring gene expression. These results reveal widespread roles for RNA structure in mammalian mRNA biogenesis and metabolism.
Project description:Sensory experience influences the establishment of neural connectivity through molecular mechanisms that remain unclear. Here, we employ single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to investigate the contribution of sensory-driven gene expression to synaptic refinement in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, a region of the brain that processes visual information. We find that visual experience induces the expression of the cytokine receptor Fn14 in excitatory thalamocortical neurons. By combining electrophysiological and structural techniques, we show that Fn14 is dispensable for early phases of refinement mediated by spontaneous activity, but that Fn14 is essential for refinement during a later, experience-dependent period of development. Refinement deficits in mice lacking Fn14 are associated with functionally weaker and structurally smaller retinogeniculate inputs, indicating that Fn14 mediates both functional and anatomical rearrangements in response to sensory experience. These findings identify Fn14 as a molecular link between sensory-driven gene expression and vision-sensitive refinement in the brain.
Project description:Sensory experience influences the establishment of neural connectivity through molecular mechanisms that remain unclear. Here, we employ single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to investigate the contribution of sensory-driven gene expression to synaptic refinement in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, a region of the brain that processes visual information. We find that visual experience induces the expression of the cytokine receptor Fn14 in excitatory thalamocortical neurons. By combining electrophysiological and structural techniques, we show that Fn14 is dispensable for early phases of refinement mediated by spontaneous activity, but that Fn14 is essential for refinement during a later, experience-dependent period of development. Refinement deficits in mice lacking Fn14 are associated with functionally weaker and structurally smaller retinogeniculate inputs, indicating that Fn14 mediates both functional and anatomical rearrangements in response to sensory experience. These findings identify Fn14 as a molecular link between sensory-driven gene expression and vision-sensitive refinement in the brain.