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Guay SY, Patel PH, Thomalla JM, McDermott KL, O'Toole JM, Arnold SE, Obrycki SJ, Wolfner MF, Findlay GD. A newly evolved gene is essential for efficient sperm entry into eggs in Drosophila melanogaster. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.08.08.607187. [PMID: 39149251 PMCID: PMC11326263 DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.08.607187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
New genes arise through a variety of evolutionary processes and provide raw material for adaptation in the face of both natural and sexual selection. De novo evolved genes emerge from previously non-protein-coding DNA sequences, and many such genes are expressed in male reproductive structures. In Drosophila melanogaster , several putative de novo genes have evolved essential roles in spermatogenesis, but whether such genes can also impact sperm function beyond the male has not been investigated. We identified a putative de novo gene, katherine johnson ( kj ), that is required for high levels of male fertility. Males that do not express kj produce and transfer sperm that are stored normally in females, but sperm from these males enter eggs with severely reduced efficiency. Using a tagged transgenic rescue construct, we observed that KJ protein localizes to the nuclear periphery in various stages of spermatogenesis, but is not detectable in mature sperm. These data suggest that kj exerts an effect on sperm development, the loss of which results in reduced fertilization ability. While previous bioinformatic analyses suggested the kj gene was restricted to the melanogaster group of Drosophila , we identified putative orthologs with conserved synteny, male-biased expression, and predicted protein features across the genus, as well as instances of gene loss in some lineages. Thus, kj potentially arose in the Drosophila common ancestor and subsequently evolved an essential role in D. melanogaster . Our results demonstrate a new aspect of male reproduction that has been shaped by new gene evolution and provide a molecular foothold for further investigating the mechanism of sperm entry into eggs in Drosophila . Article Summary How fruit fly sperm enter eggs is poorly understood. Here, we identify a gene that potentially arose from non-protein-coding DNA and is required for efficient fertilization. Sperm from males lacking this gene's function cannot enter eggs. The gene appears to act during sperm production, rather than in mature sperm. This study illustrates how newly evolved genes can affect important aspects of reproduction and provides insights into sperm-egg interactions.
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Vakirlis N, Acar O, Cherupally V, Carvunis AR. Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction as a Tool to Detect and Study De Novo Gene Emergence. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae151. [PMID: 39004885 PMCID: PMC11299112 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2024] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
New protein-coding genes can evolve from previously noncoding genomic regions through a process known as de novo gene emergence. Evidence suggests that this process has likely occurred throughout evolution and across the tree of life. Yet, confidently identifying de novo emerged genes remains challenging. Ancestral sequence reconstruction is a promising approach for inferring whether a gene has emerged de novo or not, as it allows us to inspect whether a given genomic locus ancestrally harbored protein-coding capacity. However, the use of ancestral sequence reconstruction in the context of de novo emergence is still in its infancy and its capabilities, limitations, and overall potential are largely unknown. Notably, it is difficult to formally evaluate the protein-coding capacity of ancestral sequences, particularly when new gene candidates are short. How well-suited is ancestral sequence reconstruction as a tool for the detection and study of de novo genes? Here, we address this question by designing an ancestral sequence reconstruction workflow incorporating different tools and sets of parameters and by introducing a formal criterion that allows to estimate, within a desired level of confidence, when protein-coding capacity originated at a particular locus. Applying this workflow on ∼2,600 short, annotated budding yeast genes (<1,000 nucleotides), we found that ancestral sequence reconstruction robustly predicts an ancient origin for the most widely conserved genes, which constitute "easy" cases. For less robust cases, we calculated a randomization-based empirical P-value estimating whether the observed conservation between the extant and ancestral reading frame could be attributed to chance. This formal criterion allowed us to pinpoint a branch of origin for most of the less robust cases, identifying 49 genes that can unequivocally be considered de novo originated since the split of the Saccharomyces genus, including 37 Saccharomyces cerevisiae-specific genes. We find that for the remaining equivocal cases we cannot rule out different evolutionary scenarios including rapid evolution, multiple gene losses, or a recent de novo origin. Overall, our findings suggest that ancestral sequence reconstruction is a valuable tool to study de novo gene emergence but should be applied with caution and awareness of its limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos Vakirlis
- Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, BSRC “Alexander Fleming”, Vari, Greece
| | - Omer Acar
- Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Vijay Cherupally
- Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis
- Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
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3
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Vakirlis N, Kupczok A. Large-scale investigation of species-specific orphan genes in the human gut microbiome elucidates their evolutionary origins. Genome Res 2024; 34:888-903. [PMID: 38977308 PMCID: PMC11293555 DOI: 10.1101/gr.278977.124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Species-specific genes, also known as orphans, are ubiquitous across life's domains. In prokaryotes, species-specific orphan genes (SSOGs) are mostly thought to originate in external elements such as viruses followed by horizontal gene transfer, whereas the scenario of native origination, through rapid divergence or de novo, is mostly dismissed. However, quantitative evidence supporting either scenario is lacking. Here, we systematically analyzed genomes from 4644 human gut microbiome species and identified more than 600,000 unique SSOGs, representing an average of 2.6% of a given species' pangenome. These sequences are mostly rare within each species yet show signs of purifying selection. Overall, SSOGs use optimal codons less frequently, and their proteins are more disordered than those of conserved genes (i.e., non-SSOGs). Importantly, across species, the GC content of SSOGs closely matches that of conserved ones. In contrast, the ∼5% of SSOGs that share similarity to known viral sequences have distinct characteristics, including lower GC content. Thus, SSOGs with similarity to viruses differ from the remaining SSOGs, contrasting an external origination scenario for most of them. By examining the orthologous genomic region in closely related species, we show that a small subset of SSOGs likely evolved natively de novo and find that these genes also differ in their properties from the remaining SSOGs. Our results challenge the notion that external elements are the dominant source of prokaryotic genetic novelty and will enable future studies into the biological role and relevance of species-specific genes in the human gut.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos Vakirlis
- Institute For Fundamental Biomedical Research, B.S.R.C. "Alexander Fleming," Vari 166 72, Greece;
- Institute for General Microbiology, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Anne Kupczok
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, 6700 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
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4
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Rich A, Acar O, Carvunis AR. Massively integrated coexpression analysis reveals transcriptional regulation, evolution and cellular implications of the yeast noncanonical translatome. Genome Biol 2024; 25:183. [PMID: 38978079 PMCID: PMC11232214 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03287-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent studies uncovered pervasive transcription and translation of thousands of noncanonical open reading frames (nORFs) outside of annotated genes. The contribution of nORFs to cellular phenotypes is difficult to infer using conventional approaches because nORFs tend to be short, of recent de novo origins, and lowly expressed. Here we develop a dedicated coexpression analysis framework that accounts for low expression to investigate the transcriptional regulation, evolution, and potential cellular roles of nORFs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RESULTS Our results reveal that nORFs tend to be preferentially coexpressed with genes involved in cellular transport or homeostasis but rarely with genes involved in RNA processing. Mechanistically, we discover that young de novo nORFs located downstream of conserved genes tend to leverage their neighbors' promoters through transcription readthrough, resulting in high coexpression and high expression levels. Transcriptional piggybacking also influences the coexpression profiles of young de novo nORFs located upstream of genes, but to a lesser extent and without detectable impact on expression levels. Transcriptional piggybacking influences, but does not determine, the transcription profiles of de novo nORFs emerging nearby genes. About 40% of nORFs are not strongly coexpressed with any gene but are transcriptionally regulated nonetheless and tend to form entirely new transcription modules. We offer a web browser interface ( https://carvunislab.csb.pitt.edu/shiny/coexpression/ ) to efficiently query, visualize, and download our coexpression inferences. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that nORF transcription is highly regulated. Our coexpression dataset serves as an unprecedented resource for unraveling how nORFs integrate into cellular networks, contribute to cellular phenotypes, and evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- April Rich
- Joint Carnegie Mellon University-University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Computational Biology PhD Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Omer Acar
- Joint Carnegie Mellon University-University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Computational Biology PhD Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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5
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Sanejouand YH. Are Most Human-Specific Proteins Encoded by Long Noncoding RNAs? J Mol Evol 2024:10.1007/s00239-024-10174-z. [PMID: 38916610 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-024-10174-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
By looking for a lack of homologs in a reference database of 27 well-annotated proteomes of primates and 52 well-annotated proteomes of other mammals, 170 putative human-specific proteins were identified. While most of them are deemed uncertain, 2 are known at the protein level and 23 at the transcript level, according to UniProt. Interestingly, 23 of these 25 proteins are found to be encoded or to have close homologs in an open reading frame of a long noncoding human RNA. However, half of them are predicted to be at least 80% globular, with a single structural domain, according to IUPred, and with at least 80% of ordered residues, according to flDPnn. Strikingly, there is a near-complete lack of structural knowledge about these proteins, with no tertiary structure presently available in the Protein Data Bank and a fair prediction for one of them in the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. Moreover, knowledge about the function of these possibly key proteins remains scarce.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yves-Henri Sanejouand
- US2B, UMR 6286 of CNRS, Nantes University, 2 rue de la Houssinière, Nantes, 44322, Pays de la Loire, France.
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6
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Chen J, Li Q, Xia S, Arsala D, Sosa D, Wang D, Long M. The Rapid Evolution of De Novo Proteins in Structure and Complex. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae107. [PMID: 38753069 PMCID: PMC11149777 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent studies in the rice genome-wide have established that de novo genes, evolving from noncoding sequences, enhance protein diversity through a stepwise process. However, the pattern and rate of their evolution in protein structure over time remain unclear. Here, we addressed these issues within a surprisingly short evolutionary timescale (<1 million years for 97% of Oryza de novo genes) with comparative approaches to gene duplicates. We found that de novo genes evolve faster than gene duplicates in the intrinsically disordered regions (such as random coils), secondary structure elements (such as α helix and β strand), hydrophobicity, and molecular recognition features. In de novo proteins, specifically, we observed an 8% to 14% decay in random coils and intrinsically disordered region lengths and a 2.3% to 6.5% increase in structured elements, hydrophobicity, and molecular recognition features, per million years on average. These patterns of structural evolution align with changes in amino acid composition over time as well. We also revealed higher positive charges but smaller molecular weights for de novo proteins than duplicates. Tertiary structure predictions showed that most de novo proteins, though not typically well folded on their own, readily form low-energy and compact complexes with other proteins facilitated by extensive residue contacts and conformational flexibility, suggesting a faster-binding scenario in de novo proteins to promote interaction. These analyses illuminate a rapid evolution of protein structure in de novo genes in rice genomes, originating from noncoding sequences, highlighting their quick transformation into active, protein complex-forming components within a remarkably short evolutionary timeframe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianhai Chen
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Qingrong Li
- Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Shengqian Xia
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Deanna Arsala
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Dylan Sosa
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Dong Wang
- Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Manyuan Long
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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7
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Lindhout FW, Krienen FM, Pollard KS, Lancaster MA. A molecular and cellular perspective on human brain evolution and tempo. Nature 2024; 630:596-608. [PMID: 38898293 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07521-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
The evolution of the modern human brain was accompanied by distinct molecular and cellular specializations, which underpin our diverse cognitive abilities but also increase our susceptibility to neurological diseases. These features, some specific to humans and others shared with related species, manifest during different stages of brain development. In this multi-stage process, neural stem cells proliferate to produce a large and diverse progenitor pool, giving rise to excitatory or inhibitory neurons that integrate into circuits during further maturation. This process unfolds over varying time scales across species and has progressively become slower in the human lineage, with differences in tempo correlating with differences in brain size, cell number and diversity, and connectivity. Here we introduce the terms 'bradychrony' and 'tachycrony' to describe slowed and accelerated developmental tempos, respectively. We review how recent technical advances across disciplines, including advanced engineering of in vitro models, functional comparative genetics and high-throughput single-cell profiling, are leading to a deeper understanding of how specializations of the human brain arise during bradychronic neurodevelopment. Emerging insights point to a central role for genetics, gene-regulatory networks, cellular innovations and developmental tempo, which together contribute to the establishment of human specializations during various stages of neurodevelopment and at different points in evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feline W Lindhout
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Fenna M Krienen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Katherine S Pollard
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute for Computational Health Sciences, and Institute for Human Genetics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Madeline A Lancaster
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
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8
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Tong G, Hah N, Martinez TF. Comparison of software packages for detecting unannotated translated small open reading frames by Ribo-seq. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae268. [PMID: 38842510 PMCID: PMC11155197 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Accurate and comprehensive annotation of microprotein-coding small open reading frames (smORFs) is critical to our understanding of normal physiology and disease. Empirical identification of translated smORFs is carried out primarily using ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq). While effective, published Ribo-seq datasets can vary drastically in quality and different analysis tools are frequently employed. Here, we examine the impact of these factors on identifying translated smORFs. We compared five commonly used software tools that assess open reading frame translation from Ribo-seq (RibORFv0.1, RibORFv1.0, RiboCode, ORFquant, and Ribo-TISH) and found surprisingly low agreement across all tools. Only ~2% of smORFs were called translated by all five tools, and ~15% by three or more tools when assessing the same high-resolution Ribo-seq dataset. For larger annotated genes, the same analysis showed ~74% agreement across all five tools. We also found that some tools are strongly biased against low-resolution Ribo-seq data, while others are more tolerant. Analyzing Ribo-seq coverage revealed that smORFs detected by more than one tool tend to have higher translation levels and higher fractions of in-frame reads, consistent with what was observed for annotated genes. Together these results support employing multiple tools to identify the most confident microprotein-coding smORFs and choosing the tools based on the quality of the dataset and the planned downstream characterization experiments of the predicted smORFs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Tong
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, United States
| | - Nasun Hah
- Chapman Charitable Foundations Genomic Sequencing Core, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - Thomas F Martinez
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, United States
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, United States
- Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, United States
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9
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Duffy EE, Assad EG, Kalish BT, Greenberg ME. Small but mighty: the rise of microprotein biology in neuroscience. Front Mol Neurosci 2024; 17:1386219. [PMID: 38807924 PMCID: PMC11130481 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1386219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
The mammalian central nervous system coordinates a network of signaling pathways and cellular interactions, which enable a myriad of complex cognitive and physiological functions. While traditional efforts to understand the molecular basis of brain function have focused on well-characterized proteins, recent advances in high-throughput translatome profiling have revealed a staggering number of proteins translated from non-canonical open reading frames (ncORFs) such as 5' and 3' untranslated regions of annotated proteins, out-of-frame internal ORFs, and previously annotated non-coding RNAs. Of note, microproteins < 100 amino acids (AA) that are translated from such ncORFs have often been neglected due to computational and biochemical challenges. Thousands of putative microproteins have been identified in cell lines and tissues including the brain, with some serving critical biological functions. In this perspective, we highlight the recent discovery of microproteins in the brain and describe several hypotheses that have emerged concerning microprotein function in the developing and mature nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin E. Duffy
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Elena G. Assad
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Brian T. Kalish
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
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10
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Nichols C, Do-Thi VA, Peltier DC. Noncanonical microprotein regulation of immunity. Mol Ther 2024:S1525-0016(24)00324-1. [PMID: 38734902 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The immune system is highly regulated but, when dysregulated, suboptimal protective or overly robust immune responses can lead to immune-mediated disorders. The genetic and molecular mechanisms of immune regulation are incompletely understood, impeding the development of more precise diagnostics and therapeutics for immune-mediated disorders. Recently, thousands of previously unrecognized noncanonical microprotein genes encoded by small open reading frames have been identified. Many of these microproteins perform critical functions, often in a cell- and context-specific manner. Several microproteins are now known to regulate immunity; however, the vast majority are uncharacterized. Therefore, illuminating what is often referred to as the "dark proteome," may present opportunities to tune immune responses more precisely. Here, we review noncanonical microprotein biology, highlight recently discovered examples regulating immunity, and discuss the potential and challenges of modulating dysregulated immune responses by targeting microproteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cydney Nichols
- Morris Green Scholars Program, Department of Pediatrics, Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
| | - Van Anh Do-Thi
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
| | - Daniel C Peltier
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; Simon Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
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11
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Kurgan N, Kjærgaard Larsen J, Deshmukh AS. Harnessing the power of proteomics in precision diabetes medicine. Diabetologia 2024; 67:783-797. [PMID: 38345659 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-024-06097-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Precision diabetes medicine (PDM) aims to reduce errors in prevention programmes, diagnosis thresholds, prognosis prediction and treatment strategies. However, its advancement and implementation are difficult due to the heterogeneity of complex molecular processes and environmental exposures that influence an individual's disease trajectory. To address this challenge, it is imperative to develop robust screening methods for all areas of PDM. Innovative proteomic technologies, alongside genomics, have proven effective in precision cancer medicine and are showing promise in diabetes research for potential translation. This narrative review highlights how proteomics is well-positioned to help improve PDM. Specifically, a critical assessment of widely adopted affinity-based proteomic technologies in large-scale clinical studies and evidence of the benefits and feasibility of using MS-based plasma proteomics is presented. We also present a case for the use of proteomics to identify predictive protein panels for type 2 diabetes subtyping and the development of clinical prediction models for prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment strategies. Lastly, we discuss the importance of plasma and tissue proteomics and its integration with genomics (proteogenomics) for identifying unique type 2 diabetes intra- and inter-subtype aetiology. We conclude with a call for action formed on advancing proteomics technologies, benchmarking their performance and standardisation across sites, with an emphasis on data sharing and the inclusion of diverse ancestries in large cohort studies. These efforts should foster collaboration with key stakeholders and align with ongoing academic programmes such as the Precision Medicine in Diabetes Initiative consortium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nigel Kurgan
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jeppe Kjærgaard Larsen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Atul S Deshmukh
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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12
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Qin Z, Yang J, Zhang K, Gao X, Ran Q, Xu Y, Wang Z, Lou D, Huang C, Zellmer L, Meng G, Chen N, Ma H, Wang Z, Liao DJ. Updating mRNA variants of the human RSK4 gene and their expression in different stressed situations. Heliyon 2024; 10:e27475. [PMID: 38560189 PMCID: PMC10980951 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2024] [Revised: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
We determined RNA spectrum of the human RSK4 (hRSK4) gene (also called RPS6KA6) and identified 29 novel mRNA variants derived from alternative splicing, which, plus the NCBI-documented ones and the five we reported previously, totaled 50 hRSK4 RNAs that, by our bioinformatics analyses, encode 35 hRSK4 protein isoforms of 35-762 amino acids. Many of the mRNAs are bicistronic or tricistronic for hRSK4. The NCBI-normalized NM_014496.5 and the protein it encodes are designated herein as the Wt-1 mRNA and protein, respectively, whereas the NM_001330512.1 and the long protein it encodes are designated as the Wt-2 mRNA and protein, respectively. Many of the mRNA variants responded differently to different situations of stress, including serum starvation, a febrile temperature, treatment with ethanol or ethanol-extracted clove buds (an herbal medicine), whereas the same stressed situation often caused quite different alterations among different mRNA variants in different cell lines. Mosifloxacin, an antibiotics and also a functional inhibitor of hRSK4, could inhibit the expression of certain hRSK4 mRNA variants. The hRSK4 gene likely uses alternative splicing as a handy tool to adapt to different stressed situations, and the mRNA and protein multiplicities may partly explain the incongruous literature on its expression and comports.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenwei Qin
- Section of Forensic Science and Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dong-Qing-Nan Road, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Jianglin Yang
- Center for Clinical Laboratories, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, 4 Beijing Rd, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
- Key Lab of Endemic and Ethnic Diseases of the Ministry of Education of China in Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Keyin Zhang
- Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, 4 Beijing Road, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Xia Gao
- Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, 4 Beijing Road, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Qianchuan Ran
- Section of Forensic Science and Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dong-Qing-Nan Road, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Yuanhong Xu
- Section of Forensic Science and Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dong-Qing-Nan Road, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Zhi Wang
- Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, 4 Beijing Road, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Didong Lou
- Section of Forensic Science and Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dong-Qing-Nan Road, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Chunhua Huang
- Section of Forensic Science and Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dong-Qing-Nan Road, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Lucas Zellmer
- Department of Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, 730 South 8th St., Minneapolis, MN, 55415, USA
| | - Guangxue Meng
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Guizhou Medical University, 9 Beijing Road, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Na Chen
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Guizhou Medical University, 9 Beijing Road, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Hong Ma
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Guizhou Medical University, 9 Beijing Road, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
| | - Zhe Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Pathology, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Dezhong Joshua Liao
- Center for Clinical Laboratories, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, 4 Beijing Rd, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
- Key Lab of Endemic and Ethnic Diseases of the Ministry of Education of China in Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550004, Guizhou Province, China
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13
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Aubel M, Buchel F, Heames B, Jones A, Honc O, Bornberg-Bauer E, Hlouchova K. High-throughput Selection of Human de novo-emerged sORFs with High Folding Potential. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae069. [PMID: 38597156 PMCID: PMC11024478 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
De novo genes emerge from previously noncoding stretches of the genome. Their encoded de novo proteins are generally expected to be similar to random sequences and, accordingly, with no stable tertiary fold and high predicted disorder. However, structural properties of de novo proteins and whether they differ during the stages of emergence and fixation have not been studied in depth and rely heavily on predictions. Here we generated a library of short human putative de novo proteins of varying lengths and ages and sorted the candidates according to their structural compactness and disorder propensity. Using Förster resonance energy transfer combined with Fluorescence-activated cell sorting, we were able to screen the library for most compact protein structures, as well as most elongated and flexible structures. We find that compact de novo proteins are on average slightly shorter and contain lower predicted disorder than less compact ones. The predicted structures for most and least compact de novo proteins correspond to expectations in that they contain more secondary structure content or higher disorder content, respectively. Our experiments indicate that older de novo proteins have higher compactness and structural propensity compared with young ones. We discuss possible evolutionary scenarios and their implications underlying the age-dependencies of compactness and structural content of putative de novo proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaux Aubel
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
| | - Filip Buchel
- Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Brennen Heames
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
| | - Alun Jones
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
| | - Ondrej Honc
- Imaging Methods Core Facility, BIOCEV, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Erich Bornberg-Bauer
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck-Institute for Biology Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Klara Hlouchova
- Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
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14
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Delihas N. Evolution of a Human-Specific De Novo Open Reading Frame and Its Linked Transcriptional Silencer. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3924. [PMID: 38612733 PMCID: PMC11011693 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 03/23/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
In the human genome, two short open reading frames (ORFs) separated by a transcriptional silencer and a small intervening sequence stem from the gene SMIM45. The two ORFs show different translational characteristics, and they also show divergent patterns of evolutionary development. The studies presented here describe the evolution of the components of SMIM45. One ORF consists of an ultra-conserved 68 amino acid (aa) sequence, whose origins can be traced beyond the evolutionary age of divergence of the elephant shark, ~462 MYA. The silencer also has ancient origins, but it has a complex and divergent pattern of evolutionary formation, as it overlaps both at the 68 aa ORF and the intervening sequence. The other ORF consists of 107 aa. It develops during primate evolution but is found to originate de novo from an ancestral non-coding genomic region with root origins within the Afrothere clade of placental mammals, whose evolutionary age of divergence is ~99 MYA. The formation of the complete 107 aa ORF during primate evolution is outlined, whereby sequence development is found to occur through biased mutations, with disruptive random mutations that also occur but lead to a dead-end. The 107 aa ORF is of particular significance, as there is evidence to suggest it is a protein that may function in human brain development. Its evolutionary formation presents a view of a human-specific ORF and its linked silencer that were predetermined in non-primate ancestral species. The genomic position of the silencer offers interesting possibilities for the regulation of transcription of the 107 aa ORF. A hypothesis is presented with respect to possible spatiotemporal expression of the 107 aa ORF in embryonic tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Delihas
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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15
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Fleck K, Luria V, Garag N, Karger A, Hunter T, Marten D, Phu W, Nam KM, Sestan N, O’Donnell-Luria AH, Erceg J. Functional associations of evolutionarily recent human genes exhibit sensitivity to the 3D genome landscape and disease. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.17.585403. [PMID: 38559085 PMCID: PMC10980080 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.17.585403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Genome organization is intricately tied to regulating genes and associated cell fate decisions. In this study, we examine the positioning and functional significance of human genes, grouped by their evolutionary age, within the 3D organization of the genome. We reveal that genes of different evolutionary origin have distinct positioning relationships with both domains and loop anchors, and remarkably consistent relationships with boundaries across cell types. While the functional associations of each group of genes are primarily cell type-specific, such associations of conserved genes maintain greater stability across 3D genomic features and disease than recently evolved genes. Furthermore, the expression of these genes across various tissues follows an evolutionary progression, such that RNA levels increase from young genes to ancient genes. Thus, the distinct relationships of gene evolutionary age, function, and positioning within 3D genomic features contribute to tissue-specific gene regulation in development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Fleck
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
| | - Victor Luria
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Nitanta Garag
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
| | - Amir Karger
- IT-Research Computing, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Trevor Hunter
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
| | - Daniel Marten
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142
| | - William Phu
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142
| | - Kee-Myoung Nam
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510
| | - Nenad Sestan
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510
| | - Anne H. O’Donnell-Luria
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Jelena Erceg
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030
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16
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Liu X, Xiao C, Xu X, Zhang J, Mo F, Chen JY, Delihas N, Zhang L, An NA, Li CY. Origin of functional de novo genes in humans from "hopeful monsters". WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. RNA 2024; 15:e1845. [PMID: 38605485 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.1845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
For a long time, it was believed that new genes arise only from modifications of preexisting genes, but the discovery of de novo protein-coding genes that originated from noncoding DNA regions demonstrates the existence of a "motherless" origination process for new genes. However, the features, distributions, expression profiles, and origin modes of these genes in humans seem to support the notion that their origin is not a purely "motherless" process; rather, these genes arise preferentially from genomic regions encoding preexisting precursors with gene-like features. In such a case, the gene loci are typically not brand new. In this short review, we will summarize the definition and features of human de novo genes and clarify their process of origination from ancestral non-coding genomic regions. In addition, we define the favored precursors, or "hopeful monsters," for the origin of de novo genes and present a discussion of the functional significance of these young genes in brain development and tumorigenesis in humans. This article is categorized under: RNA Evolution and Genomics > RNA and Ribonucleoprotein Evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoge Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Chunfu Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xinwei Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Fan Mo
- State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Stem Cell and Regeneration, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jia-Yu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center (ChemBIC), Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Nicholas Delihas
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
| | - Li Zhang
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Ni A An
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Chuan-Yun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
- Southwest United Graduate School, Kunming, China
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17
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Fesenko I, Sahakyan H, Shabalina SA, Koonin EV. The Cryptic Bacterial Microproteome. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.17.580829. [PMID: 38903115 PMCID: PMC11188072 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.17.580829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
Microproteins encoded by small open reading frames (smORFs) comprise the "dark matter" of proteomes. Although functional microproteins were identified in diverse organisms from all three domains of life, bacterial smORFs remain poorly characterized. In this comprehensive study of intergenic smORFs (ismORFs, 15-70 codons) in 5,668 bacterial genomes of the family Enterobacteriaceae, we identified 67,297 clusters of ismORFs subject to purifying selection. The ismORFs mainly code for hydrophobic, potentially transmembrane, unstructured, or minimally structured microproteins. Using AlphaFold Multimer, we predicted interactions of some of the predicted microproteins encoded by transcribed ismORFs with proteins encoded by neighboring genes, revealing the potential of microproteins to regulate the activity of various proteins, particularly, under stress. We compiled a catalog of predicted microprotein families with different levels of evidence from synteny analysis, structure prediction, and transcription and translation data. This study offers a resource for investigation of biological functions of microproteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Fesenko
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Harutyun Sahakyan
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Svetlana A. Shabalina
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Eugene V. Koonin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
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18
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Hannon Bozorgmehr J. Four classic "de novo" genes all have plausible homologs and likely evolved from retro-duplicated or pseudogenic sequences. Mol Genet Genomics 2024; 299:6. [PMID: 38315248 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-023-02090-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Despite being previously regarded as extremely unlikely, the idea that entirely novel protein-coding genes can emerge from non-coding sequences has gradually become accepted over the past two decades. Examples of "de novo origination", resulting in lineage-specific "orphan" genes, lacking coding orthologs, are now produced every year. However, many are likely cases of duplicates that are difficult to recognize. Here, I re-examine the claims and show that four very well-known examples of genes alleged to have emerged completely "from scratch"- FLJ33706 in humans, Goddard in fruit flies, BSC4 in baker's yeast and AFGP2 in codfish-may have plausible evolutionary ancestors in pre-existing genes. The first two are likely highly diverged retrogenes coding for regulatory proteins that have been misidentified as orphans. The antifreeze glycoprotein, moreover, may not have evolved from repetitive non-genic sequences but, as in several other related cases, from an apolipoprotein that could have become pseudogenized before later being reactivated. These findings detract from various claims made about de novo gene birth and show there has been a tendency not to invest the necessary effort in searching for homologs outside of a very limited syntenic or phylostratigraphic methodology. A robust approach is used for improving detection that draws upon similarities, not just in terms of statistical sequence analysis, but also relating to biochemistry and function, to obviate notable failures to identify homologs.
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19
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Tong G, Hah N, Martinez TF. Comparison of software packages for detecting unannotated translated small open reading frames by Ribo-seq. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.30.573709. [PMID: 38234848 PMCID: PMC10793472 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.30.573709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Accurate and comprehensive annotation of microprotein-coding small open reading frames (smORFs) is critical to our understanding of normal physiology and disease. Empirical identification of translated smORFs is carried out primarily using ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq). While effective, published Ribo-seq datasets can vary drastically in quality and different analysis tools are frequently employed. Here, we examine the impact of these factors on identifying translated smORFs. We compared five commonly used software tools that assess ORF translation from Ribo-seq (RibORFv0.1, RibORFv1.0, RiboCode, ORFquant, and Ribo-TISH), and found surprisingly low agreement across all tools. Only ~2% of smORFs were called translated by all five tools and ~15% by three or more tools when assessing the same high-resolution Ribo-seq dataset. For larger annotated genes, the same analysis showed ~72% agreement across all five tools. We also found that some tools are strongly biased against low-resolution Ribo-seq data, while others are more tolerant. Analyzing Ribo-seq coverage as a proxy for translation levels revealed that highly translated smORFs are more likely to be detected by more than one tool. Together these results support employing multiple tools to identify the most confident microprotein-coding smORFs, and choosing the tools based on the quality of the dataset and planned downstream characterization experiments of predicted smORFs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Tong
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Nasun Hah
- Chapman Charitable Foundations Genomic Sequencing Core, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Thomas F. Martinez
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
- Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
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20
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Kore H, Datta KK, Nagaraj SH, Gowda H. Protein-coding potential of non-canonical open reading frames in human transcriptome. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2023; 684:149040. [PMID: 37897910 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.09.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 09/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, proteogenomics and ribosome profiling studies have identified a large number of proteins encoded by noncoding regions in the human genome. They are encoded by small open reading frames (sORFs) in the untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). These sORF encoded proteins (SEPs) are often <150AA and show poor evolutionary conservation. A subset of them have been functionally characterized and shown to play an important role in fundamental biological processes including cardiac and muscle function, DNA repair, embryonic development and various human diseases. How many novel protein-coding regions exist in the human genome and what fraction of them are functionally important remains a mystery. In this review, we discuss current progress in unraveling SEPs, approaches used for their identification, their limitations and reliability of these identifications. We also discuss functionally characterized SEPs and their involvement in various biological processes and diseases. Lastly, we provide insights into their distinctive features compared to canonical proteins and challenges associated with annotating these in protein reference databases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hitesh Kore
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia; Cancer Precision Medicine Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia; Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia.
| | - Keshava K Datta
- Proteomics and Metabolomics Platform, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Shivashankar H Nagaraj
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia; Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia
| | - Harsha Gowda
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia; Cancer Precision Medicine Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia; Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Queensland, 4072, Australia.
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21
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Frumkin I, Laub MT. Selection of a de novo gene that can promote survival of Escherichia coli by modulating protein homeostasis pathways. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:2067-2079. [PMID: 37945946 PMCID: PMC10697842 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02224-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Cellular novelty can emerge when non-functional loci become functional genes in a process termed de novo gene birth. But how proteins with random amino acid sequences beneficially integrate into existing cellular pathways remains poorly understood. We screened ~108 genes, generated from random nucleotide sequences and devoid of homology to natural genes, for their ability to rescue growth arrest of Escherichia coli cells producing the ribonuclease toxin MazF. We identified ~2,000 genes that could promote growth, probably by reducing transcription from the promoter driving toxin expression. Additionally, one random protein, named Random antitoxin of MazF (RamF), modulated protein homeostasis by interacting with chaperones, leading to MazF proteolysis and a consequent loss of its toxicity. Finally, we demonstrate that random proteins can improve during evolution by identifying beneficial mutations that turned RamF into a more efficient inhibitor. Our work provides a mechanistic basis for how de novo gene birth can produce functional proteins that effectively benefit cells evolving under stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Idan Frumkin
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Michael T Laub
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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22
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Mohsen JJ, Martel AA, Slavoff SA. Microproteins-Discovery, structure, and function. Proteomics 2023; 23:e2100211. [PMID: 37603371 PMCID: PMC10841188 DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202100211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Advances in proteogenomic technologies have revealed hundreds to thousands of translated small open reading frames (sORFs) that encode microproteins in genomes across evolutionary space. While many microproteins have now been shown to play critical roles in biology and human disease, a majority of recently identified microproteins have little or no experimental evidence regarding their functionality. Computational tools have some limitations for analysis of short, poorly conserved microprotein sequences, so additional approaches are needed to determine the role of each member of this recently discovered polypeptide class. A currently underexplored avenue in the study of microproteins is structure prediction and determination, which delivers a depth of functional information. In this review, we provide a brief overview of microprotein discovery methods, then examine examples of microprotein structures (and, conversely, intrinsic disorder) that have been experimentally determined using crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and NMR, which provide insight into their molecular functions and mechanisms. Additionally, we discuss examples of predicted microprotein structures that have provided insight or context regarding their function. Analysis of microprotein structure at the angstrom level, and confirmation of predicted structures, therefore, has potential to identify translated microproteins that are of biological importance and to provide molecular mechanism for their in vivo roles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica J. Mohsen
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Institute of Biomolecular Design and Discovery, Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Alina A. Martel
- Institute of Biomolecular Design and Discovery, Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Sarah A. Slavoff
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Institute of Biomolecular Design and Discovery, Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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23
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Prensner JR, Abelin JG, Kok LW, Clauser KR, Mudge JM, Ruiz-Orera J, Bassani-Sternberg M, Moritz RL, Deutsch EW, van Heesch S. What Can Ribo-Seq, Immunopeptidomics, and Proteomics Tell Us About the Noncanonical Proteome? Mol Cell Proteomics 2023; 22:100631. [PMID: 37572790 PMCID: PMC10506109 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2023.100631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq) has proven transformative for our understanding of the human genome and proteome by illuminating thousands of noncanonical sites of ribosome translation outside the currently annotated coding sequences (CDSs). A conservative estimate suggests that at least 7000 noncanonical ORFs are translated, which, at first glance, has the potential to expand the number of human protein CDSs by 30%, from ∼19,500 annotated CDSs to over 26,000 annotated CDSs. Yet, additional scrutiny of these ORFs has raised numerous questions about what fraction of them truly produce a protein product and what fraction of those can be understood as proteins according to conventional understanding of the term. Adding further complication is the fact that published estimates of noncanonical ORFs vary widely by around 30-fold, from several thousand to several hundred thousand. The summation of this research has left the genomics and proteomics communities both excited by the prospect of new coding regions in the human genome but searching for guidance on how to proceed. Here, we discuss the current state of noncanonical ORF research, databases, and interpretation, focusing on how to assess whether a given ORF can be said to be "protein coding."
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Affiliation(s)
- John R Prensner
- Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
| | | | - Leron W Kok
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Karl R Clauser
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan M Mudge
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jorge Ruiz-Orera
- Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Michal Bassani-Sternberg
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Agora Center Bugnon 25A, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Robert L Moritz
- Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Eric W Deutsch
- Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), Seattle, Washington, USA
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24
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Prensner JR, Abelin JG, Kok LW, Clauser KR, Mudge JM, Ruiz-Orera J, Bassani-Sternberg M, Deutsch EW, van Heesch S. What can Ribo-seq and proteomics tell us about the non-canonical proteome? BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.16.541049. [PMID: 37292611 PMCID: PMC10245706 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.16.541049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq) has proven transformative for our understanding of the human genome and proteome by illuminating thousands of non-canonical sites of ribosome translation outside of the currently annotated coding sequences (CDSs). A conservative estimate suggests that at least 7,000 non-canonical open reading frames (ORFs) are translated, which, at first glance, has the potential to expand the number of human protein-coding sequences by 30%, from ∼19,500 annotated CDSs to over 26,000. Yet, additional scrutiny of these ORFs has raised numerous questions about what fraction of them truly produce a protein product and what fraction of those can be understood as proteins according to conventional understanding of the term. Adding further complication is the fact that published estimates of non-canonical ORFs vary widely by around 30-fold, from several thousand to several hundred thousand. The summation of this research has left the genomics and proteomics communities both excited by the prospect of new coding regions in the human genome, but searching for guidance on how to proceed. Here, we discuss the current state of non-canonical ORF research, databases, and interpretation, focusing on how to assess whether a given ORF can be said to be "protein-coding". In brief The human genome encodes thousands of non-canonical open reading frames (ORFs) in addition to protein-coding genes. As a nascent field, many questions remain regarding non-canonical ORFs. How many exist? Do they encode proteins? What level of evidence is needed for their verification? Central to these debates has been the advent of ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq) as a method to discern genome-wide ribosome occupancy, and immunopeptidomics as a method to detect peptides that are processed and presented by MHC molecules and not observed in traditional proteomics experiments. This article provides a synthesis of the current state of non-canonical ORF research and proposes standards for their future investigation and reporting. Highlights Combined use of Ribo-seq and proteomics-based methods enables optimal confidence in detecting non-canonical ORFs and their protein products.Ribo-seq can provide more sensitive detection of non-canonical ORFs, but data quality and analytical pipelines will impact results.Non-canonical ORF catalogs are diverse and span both high-stringency and low-stringency ORF nominations.A framework for standardized non-canonical ORF evidence will advance the research field.
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Affiliation(s)
- John R. Prensner
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | | | - Leron W. Kok
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Heidelberglaan 25, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Karl R. Clauser
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Jonathan M. Mudge
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - Jorge Ruiz-Orera
- Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michal Bassani-Sternberg
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Agora Center Bugnon 25A, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV), Rue du Bugnon 46, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Agora Cancer Research Centre, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Eric W. Deutsch
- Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), Seattle, Washington 98109, USA
| | - Sebastiaan van Heesch
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Heidelberglaan 25, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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25
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Ardern Z, Uz-Zaman MH. Between noise and function: Toward a taxonomy of the non-canonical translatome. Cell Syst 2023; 14:343-345. [PMID: 37201506 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Eukaryotic genomes are pervasively translated, but the properties of translated sequences outside of canonical genes are poorly understood. A new study in Cell Systems reveals a large translatome that is not under significant evolutionary constraint but is still an active part of diverse cellular systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Ardern
- Parasites and Microbes Programme, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, UK.
| | - Md Hassan Uz-Zaman
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
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26
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Girardini KN, Olthof AM, Kanadia RN. Introns: the "dark matter" of the eukaryotic genome. Front Genet 2023; 14:1150212. [PMID: 37260773 PMCID: PMC10228655 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1150212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of introns was a significant evolutionary leap that is a major distinguishing feature between prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes. While historically introns were regarded merely as the sequences that are removed to produce spliced transcripts encoding functional products, increasingly data suggests that introns play important roles in the regulation of gene expression. Here, we use an intron-centric lens to review the role of introns in eukaryotic gene expression. First, we focus on intron architecture and how it may influence mechanisms of splicing. Second, we focus on the implications of spliceosomal snRNAs and their variants on intron splicing. Finally, we discuss how the presence of introns and the need to splice them influences transcription regulation. Despite the abundance of introns in the eukaryotic genome and their emerging role regulating gene expression, a lot remains unexplored. Therefore, here we refer to introns as the "dark matter" of the eukaryotic genome and discuss some of the outstanding questions in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin N. Girardini
- Physiology and Neurobiology Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
| | - Anouk M. Olthof
- Physiology and Neurobiology Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Rahul N. Kanadia
- Physiology and Neurobiology Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
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27
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Jain N, Richter F, Adzhubei I, Sharp AJ, Gelb BD. Small open reading frames: a comparative genetics approach to validation. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:226. [PMID: 37127568 PMCID: PMC10152738 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09311-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Open reading frames (ORFs) with fewer than 100 codons are generally not annotated in genomes, although bona fide genes of that size are known. Newer biochemical studies have suggested that thousands of small protein-coding ORFs (smORFs) may exist in the human genome, but the true number and the biological significance of the micropeptides they encode remain uncertain. Here, we used a comparative genomics approach to identify high-confidence smORFs that are likely protein-coding. We identified 3,326 high-confidence smORFs using constraint within human populations and evolutionary conservation as additional lines of evidence. Next, we validated that, as a group, our high-confidence smORFs are conserved at the amino-acid level rather than merely residing in highly conserved non-coding regions. Finally, we found that high-confidence smORFs are enriched among disease-associated variants from GWAS. Overall, our results highlight that smORF-encoded peptides likely have important functional roles in human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niyati Jain
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, 1470 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Present Address: Committee On Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Felix Richter
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ivan Adzhubei
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew J Sharp
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, 1470 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Bruce D Gelb
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, 1470 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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28
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Liu J, Yuan R, Shao W, Wang J, Silman I, Sussman JL. Do "Newly Born" orphan proteins resemble "Never Born" proteins? A study using three deep learning algorithms. Proteins 2023. [PMID: 37092778 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/01/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
"Newly Born" proteins, devoid of detectable homology to any other proteins, known as orphan proteins, occur in a single species or within a taxonomically restricted gene family. They are generated by the expression of novel open reading frames, and appear throughout evolution. We were curious if three recently developed programs for predicting protein structures, namely, AlphaFold2, RoseTTAFold, and ESMFold, might be of value for comparison of such "Newly Born" proteins to random polypeptides with amino acid content similar to that of native proteins, which have been called "Never Born" proteins. The programs were used to compare the structures of two sets of "Never Born" proteins that had been expressed-Group 1, which had been shown experimentally to possess substantial secondary structure, and Group 3, which had been shown to be intrinsically disordered. Overall, although the models generated were scored as being of low quality, they nevertheless revealed some general principles. Specifically, all four members of Group 1 were predicted to be compact by all three algorithms, in agreement with the experimental data, whereas the members of Group 3 were predicted to be very extended, as would be expected for intrinsically disordered proteins, again consistent with the experimental data. These predicted differences were shown to be statistically significant by comparing their accessible surface areas. The three programs were then used to predict the structures of three orphan proteins whose crystal structures had been solved, two of which display novel folds. Surprisingly, only for the protein which did not have a novel fold, and was taxonomically restricted, rather than being a true orphan, did all three algorithms predict very similar, high-quality structures, closely resembling the crystal structure. Finally, they were used to predict the structures of seven orphan proteins with well-identified biological functions, whose 3D structures are not known. Two proteins, which were predicted to be disordered based on their sequences, are predicted by all three structure algorithms to be extended structures. The other five were predicted to be compact structures with only two exceptions in the case of AlphaFold2. All three prediction algorithms make remarkably similar and high-quality predictions for one large protein, HCO_11565, from a nematode. It is conjectured that this is due to many homologs in the taxonomically restricted family of which it is a member, and to the fact that the Dali server revealed several nonrelated proteins with similar folds. An animated Interactive 3D Complement (I3DC) is available in Proteopedia at http://proteopedia.org/w/Journal:Proteins:3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Liu
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Shantou, China
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Rongqing Yuan
- Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Shao
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jitong Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Israel Silman
- Department of Brain Sciences, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Joel L Sussman
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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29
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Xu D, Tang L, Kapranov P. Complexities of mammalian transcriptome revealed by targeted RNA enrichment techniques. Trends Genet 2023; 39:320-333. [PMID: 36681580 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2022.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Studies using highly sensitive targeted RNA enrichment methods have shown that a large portion of the human transcriptome remains to be discovered and that most of the genome is transcribed in a complex, interleaved fashion characterized by a complex web of transcripts emanating from protein coding and noncoding loci. These results resonate with those from single-cell transcriptome profiling endeavors that reveal the existence of multiple novel, cell type-specific transcripts and clearly demonstrate that our understanding of the complexities of the human transcriptome is far from being complete. Here, we review the current status of the targeted RNA enrichment techniques, their application to the discovery of novel cell type-specific transcripts, and their impact on our understanding of the human genome and transcriptome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongyang Xu
- Institute of Genomics, School of Medicine, Huaqiao University, 668 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Lu Tang
- Institute of Genomics, School of Medicine, Huaqiao University, 668 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Philipp Kapranov
- Institute of Genomics, School of Medicine, Huaqiao University, 668 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
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30
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Papadopoulos C, Albà MM. Newly evolved genes in the human lineage are functional. Trends Genet 2023; 39:235-236. [PMID: 36774242 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
Genes restricted to a given species or lineage are mysterious. Many emerged de novo from ancestral noncoding genomic regions rather than from pre-existing genes. A new study by Vakirlis and colleagues shows that, in humans, many of these are associated with phenotypic effects, accelerating our understanding of their functional importance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Papadopoulos
- Evolutionary Genomics Group, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona 08003, Spain.
| | - M Mar Albà
- Evolutionary Genomics Group, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona 08003, Spain.
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31
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Sandmann CL, Schulz JF, Ruiz-Orera J, Kirchner M, Ziehm M, Adami E, Marczenke M, Christ A, Liebe N, Greiner J, Schoenenberger A, Muecke MB, Liang N, Moritz RL, Sun Z, Deutsch EW, Gotthardt M, Mudge JM, Prensner JR, Willnow TE, Mertins P, van Heesch S, Hubner N. Evolutionary origins and interactomes of human, young microproteins and small peptides translated from short open reading frames. Mol Cell 2023; 83:994-1011.e18. [PMID: 36806354 PMCID: PMC10032668 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.01.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
All species continuously evolve short open reading frames (sORFs) that can be templated for protein synthesis and may provide raw materials for evolutionary adaptation. We analyzed the evolutionary origins of 7,264 recently cataloged human sORFs and found that most were evolutionarily young and had emerged de novo. We additionally identified 221 previously missed sORFs potentially translated into peptides of up to 15 amino acids-all of which are smaller than the smallest human microprotein annotated to date. To investigate the bioactivity of sORF-encoded small peptides and young microproteins, we subjected 266 candidates to a mass-spectrometry-based interactome screen with motif resolution. Based on these interactomes and additional cellular assays, we can associate several candidates with mRNA splicing, translational regulation, and endocytosis. Our work provides insights into the evolutionary origins and interaction potential of young and small proteins, thereby helping to elucidate this underexplored territory of the human proteome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara-L Sandmann
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 13347 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jana F Schulz
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 13347 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jorge Ruiz-Orera
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Marieluise Kirchner
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Core Facility Proteomics, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthias Ziehm
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Core Facility Proteomics, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Eleonora Adami
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Maike Marczenke
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Annabel Christ
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Nina Liebe
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Greiner
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Aaron Schoenenberger
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael B Muecke
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 13347 Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ning Liang
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Zhi Sun
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | | | - Michael Gotthardt
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 13347 Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jonathan M Mudge
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - John R Prensner
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Thomas E Willnow
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Philipp Mertins
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Core Facility Proteomics, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Norbert Hubner
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 13347 Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
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32
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Evolution and implications of de novo genes in humans. Nat Ecol Evol 2023:10.1038/s41559-023-02014-y. [PMID: 36928843 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02014-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Genes and translated open reading frames (ORFs) that emerged de novo from previously non-coding sequences provide species with opportunities for adaptation. When aberrantly activated, some human-specific de novo genes and ORFs have disease-promoting properties-for instance, driving tumour growth. Thousands of putative de novo coding sequences have been described in humans, but we still do not know what fraction of those ORFs has readily acquired a function. Here, we discuss the challenges and controversies surrounding the detection, mechanisms of origin, annotation, validation and characterization of de novo genes and ORFs. Through manual curation of literature and databases, we provide a thorough table with most de novo genes reported for humans to date. We re-evaluate each locus by tracing the enabling mutations and list proposed disease associations, protein characteristics and supporting evidence for translation and protein detection. This work will support future explorations of de novo genes and ORFs in humans.
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33
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Jordan B. [The birth of a gene]. Med Sci (Paris) 2023; 39:297-300. [PMID: 36943130 DOI: 10.1051/medsci/2023021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The availability of an extensive set of vertebrate genome sequences, together with large-scale transcriptome studies, has allowed the discovery of numerous non-canonical ORFs (usually quite short) with evidence of transcription, translation and functional involvement. Orthologs for these ORFs can be detected in many vertebrates, and the time of appearance of a functional mini-gene can be ascertained. Some of these have appeared quite recently in evolution and have already very specific expression patterns in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertrand Jordan
- Biologiste, généticien et immunologiste, président d'Aprogène (Association pour la promotion de la Génomique), 13007 Marseille, France
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