Project description:Various species of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are enriched in subcellular compartments but the mechanisms orchestrating their localization and their local functions remain largely unknown. We investigated both aspects using the elongating retinal ganglion cell axon and its tip, the growth cone, as models. We reveal that specific endogenous precursor microRNAs (pre-miRNAs) are actively trafficked to distal axons by hitchhiking primarily on late endosomes / lysosomes. Upon exposure to Sema3A, pre-miRNAs are processed specifically within axons into newly generated miRNAs, one of which, in turn, silences the basal translation of tubulin beta 3 class III (TUBB3) but not amyloid beta precursor protein (APP). At the organismal level, these mature miRNAs are required for growth cone steering and a fully functional visual system. Overall, our results uncover a novel mode of ncRNA transport from one cytosolic compartment to another within polarized cells. They also reveal that newly generated miRNAs are critical components of a ncRNA-based signaling pathway that transduces environmental signals into the structural remodelling of subcellular compartments.
Project description:Various species of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are enriched in specific subcellular compartments, but the mechanisms orchestrating their localization and their local functions remain largely unknown. We investigated both aspects using the elongating retinal ganglion cell axon and its tip, the growth cone, as models. We reveal that specific endogenous precursor microRNAs (pre-miRNAs) are actively trafficked to distal axons by hitchhiking primarily on late endosomes/lysosomes. Upon exposure to the axon guidance cue semaphorin 3A (Sema3A), pre-miRNAs are processed specifically within axons into newly generated miRNAs, one of which, in turn, silences the basal translation of tubulin beta 3 class III (TUBB3), but not amyloid beta precursor protein (APP). At the organismal level, these mature miRNAs are required for growth cone steering and a fully functional visual system. Overall, our results uncover a novel mode of ncRNA transport from one cytosolic compartment to another within polarized cells. They also reveal that newly generated miRNAs are critical components of a ncRNA-based signaling pathway that transduces environmental signals into the structural remodeling of subcellular compartments.
Project description:RNA-based regulatory mechanisms play important roles in the development and plasticity of neural circuits and neurologic disease. Developing axons provide a well suited model to study RNA-based regulation, and contain specific subsets of mRNAs that are locally translated and have roles in axon pathfinding. However, the RNA-binding proteins involved in axon pathfinding, and their corresponding mRNA targets, are still largely unknown. Here we find that the RNA-binding protein IMP2 (Igf2bp2) is strikingly enriched in developing axon tracts, including in spinal commissural axons. We used the HITS-CLIP approach to perform a genome-wide identification of RNAs that interact directly with IMP2 in the native context of developing brain. This IMP2 interactome was highly enriched for mRNA targets related to axon guidance. Accordingly, IMP2 knockdown in the developing spinal cord led to strong defects in commissural axon trajectories at the midline intermediate target. These results reveal a highly distinctive axonal enrichment of IMP2, show that it interacts with a network of axon guidance-related mRNAs, and reveal its requirement for normal axon pathfinding during vertebrate development. CLIP-seq
Project description:Local protein synthesis in sensory neuron axons is necessary for axonal regeneration with the efficiency of regeneration decreasing with age. Because the full repertoire of transcripts in embryonic and adult rat sensory axons is unknown we asked how the pool of mRNAs dynamically changes during ageing. We isolated mRNA from pure axons and growth cones devoid of non-neuronal or cell body contamination. Genome-wide microarray analysis reveals that a previously unappreciated number of transcripts are localised in sensory axons and that this repertoire changes during development toward adulthood. Embryonic sensory axons are enriched in transcripts encoding cytoskeletal-related proteins with a role in axonal outgrowth. Surprisingly, adult axons are highly enriched in mRNAs encoding immune molecules with a role in nociception. To validate our experimental approach we show that Tubulin-beta3 mRNA is present only in embryonic axons where it is locally synthesised. In summary, we show that the population of axonal mRNAs dynamically changes during development, which may partly contribute to the intrinsic capacity of axons at different ages to regenerate after injury and to modulate pain. Pure axonal RNA were extracted from the axons of embryonic and adult dorsal root ganglion neurons, each with 5 biological replicates. The axonal transcriptomes were analysed using Affymetrix Rat Genome 230 2.0 Arrays.
Project description:The discovery of early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ETP-ALL) was based on expression of stem cell genes that are characteristic of mouse ETP cells, the most primitive multipotent cells in the thymus. Using complementary mouse and human genetic models and genome-wide expression and chromatin profiling integrated with 3D chromatin mapping, we show that the PIAS-like coactivator ZMIZ1 promotes immature T-ALL proliferation by recruiting the transcription factor MYB in feedforward circuits to cooperatively induce MYCN, MEF2C, and BCL2, which were recently associated with the high-risk bone marrow progenitor (BMP-like) subset.