Project description:Exon junction complexes (EJCs) deposited on spliced mRNAs play multifunctional roles in the regulation of gene expression. Whereas the formation and components of EJCs are well characterized, the underlying molecular mechanisms for gene regulation remain poorly understood. Here we find that a eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 4A3, a core component of EJC directly interacts with eIF3g, a subunit of eIF3 complex. This interaction serves as a linker between the EJC and eIF3 complex, consequently driving an internal ribosomal recruitment. Accordingly, artificially tethered EJC component or cellular EJC deposited on mRNA after splicing promotes internal initiation of translation in a way that is resistant to cellular stress induced by serum starvation. We also demonstrate that translatable endogenous or reporter circular RNAs depend on EJC for their association with polysomes. Our results uncover an internal initiation driven by EJC, expanding the protein-coding potential of human transcriptome including circular RNAs.
Project description:Increasing evidence has revealed a close relationship between circular RNAs (circRNAs) and the regulatory process of cell aging. Exploring the role and mechanism of circRNAs in cellular senescence may help to identify new anti-aging therapeutic targets. In the present study, we investigated the role and regulatory mechanism of hsa_circ_012707 in renal aging.High-throughput sequencing was performed to detect the differential expression of circRNAs in kidney tissues of the old and young groups. qRT-PCR confirmed that the expression of hsa_circ_0127071 in kidney tissue of the old group was significantly higher than that of the young group. SA-β-Gal, Masson Assay is used to evaluate the role of hsa_circ_0127071 in the aging process of kidney tissue.Using RIP, RNA pull down, and WB to study the interaction between hsa_circ_0127071 and aging related pathway proteins.In this study, we found that the expression of hsa_circ_0127071 in kidney tissue of the old group was significantly higher than that of the young group. The activity of JAK2/STAT5 signaling pathway was decreased after silencing EIF4A3, which could delay the aging process. On the basis of silencing EIF4A3 expression, the JAK2/STAT5 signaling pathway was activated by EPO processing, and the senescence of HGMCs increased. After treatment with LOS, the activity of JAK2/STAT5 pathway was decreased and the aging process of HGMCs was delayed. Our findings showed that hsa_circ_0127071 promoted renal aging, and confirmed the regulatory role of EIF4A3/hsa_circ_0127071/JAK2/STAT5 in the regulation of renal aging, providing a new therapeutic target for drug design and early diagnosis.
Project description:RNA helicases are involved in multiple steps of RNA metabolism to direct their roles in gene expression, yet their functions in pluripotency control remain largely unexplored. Starting from an RNAi screen of RNA helicases, we identified that eIF4A3, a DEAD-box (Ddx) helicase component of the exon junction complex (EJC), is essential for the maintenance of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). We mapped the eIF4A3 interactomes in mouse ESCs, revealing that eIF4A3 is widely involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Mechanistically, we show that eIF4A3 post-transcriptionally controls the pluripotency-related cell cycle regulators and that its depletion causes cellular differentiation via cell cycle dysregulation. Specifically, eIF4A3 is required for the efficient nuclear export of Ccnb1 mRNA, which encodes Cyclin B1, a key component of the pluripotency-promoting pathway during cell cycle progression of ESCs. Our results reveal a previously unappreciated role of eIF4A3 and its associated EJC in the post-transcriptional cell cycle control in maintaining stem cell pluripotency.
Project description:The exon junction complex is involved in gene expression regulation on multiple co- and post-transcriptional levels. We aimed to investigate in HeLa Tet-Off cells which gene expression alterations can be observed upon knockdown of core EJC factors (EIF4A3, RBM8A and MAGOH) or upon EIF4A3 knockdown and rescue with EIF4A3 wild type construct by using RNA-Seq analyses. The rescue construct was stably integrated into the genome using the PiggyBac transposon system. As control Luciferase (Luc) siRNA was used.
Project description:To explore the overall circRNAs involved in growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana across the lifespan, we deeply sequenced samples of whole plants from different developmental stages (cotyledons emergence, rosette leavesï¹¥1 mm, rosette growth complete, first flower open, flourishing florescence, first silique shattered, senescence). The total RNA was purified by rRNA-depletion and linear RNA removal with RNAseR, and sequenced by the Illumina HiSeq2500 platform. We obtained 31 Gb raw data and identified 1217 circRNAs with expression quantity. We annotated these circRNAs and predicted their targeted microRNA. The circRNAs involved in growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana across lifespan were identified and analyzed using the Illumina HiSeq2500 platform.