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Shi X, Zhang R, Liu Z, Zhao G, Guo J, Mao X, Fan B. Alternative Splicing Reveals Acute Stress Response of Litopenaeus vannamei at High Alkalinity. MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2024; 26:103-115. [PMID: 38206418 DOI: 10.1007/s10126-023-10281-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Alkalinity is regarded as one of the primary stressors for aquatic animals in saline-alkaline water. Alternative splicing (AS) can significantly increase the diversity of transcripts and play key roles in stress response; however, the studies on AS under alkalinity stress of crustaceans are still limited. In the present study, we devoted ourselves to the study of AS under acute alkalinity stress at control (50 mg/L) and treatment groups (350 mg/L) by RNA-seq in pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). We identified a total of 10,556 AS events from 4865 genes and 619 differential AS (DAS) events from 519 DAS genes in pacific white shrimp. Functional annotation showed that the DAS genes primarily involved in spliceosome. Five splicing factors (SFs), U2AF1, PUF60, CHERP, SR140 and SRSF2 were significantly up-regulated and promoted AS. Furthermore, alkalinity activated the Leukocyte transendothelial migration, mTOR signaling pathway and AMPK signaling pathway, which regulated MAPK1, EIF3B and IGFP-RP1 associated with these pathways. We also studied three SFs (HSFP1, SRSF2 and NHE-RF1), which underwent AS to form different transcript isoforms. The above results demonstrated that AS was a regulatory mechanism in pacific white shrimp in response to acute alkalinity stress. SFs played vital roles in AS of pacific white shrimp, such as HSFP1, SRSF2 and NHE-RF1. DAS genes were significantly modified in immunity of pacific white shrimp to cope with alkalinity stress. This is the first study on the response of AS to acute alkalinity stress, which provided scientific basis for AS mechanism of crustaceans response to alkalinity stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Shi
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Ruiqi Zhang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
| | - Zhe Liu
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Guiyan Zhao
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Jintao Guo
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Xue Mao
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Baoyi Fan
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730070, China
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Zhang X, Zhang X, Yuan J, Li F. The Responses of Alternative Splicing during Heat Stress in the Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1473. [PMID: 37510377 PMCID: PMC10379218 DOI: 10.3390/genes14071473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Heat tolerance is increasingly becoming a crucial trait for aquaculture species in the face of rapidly changing climate conditions. Alternative splicing (AS) is a vital mechanism within cells that modulates gene abundance and functional diversity, enabling organisms to effectively respond to diverse stressful conditions, including thermal stress. However, it is still uncertain whether AS contributes to heat tolerance in shrimp. In this study, we conducted an extensive transcriptome analysis on the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, revealing a total of 1267, 987, and 130 differential AS events (DAS) in the gill, hepatopancreas, and muscle, respectively, following exposure to heat stress. Among all of the DAS events, exon skipping (ES) was the predominant form of splicing modification observed. Interestingly, a minor portion of DAS genes exhibited overlap across the three tissues, implying that heat stress exerts unique effects on various tissue types. Moreover, the functional enrichment analysis demonstrated that commonly identified DAS genes were primarily associated with the "spliceosome" pathway, indicating that the AS of splicing-related genes played a crucial role in the response to heat stress. Our findings also revealed that heat stress tended to induce longer mRNA isoforms through differential alternative 3' splice site (A3SS) events. Notably, A3SS events exhibited the highest proportion of maintained open reading frames (ORFs) under heat stress. Interestingly, we observed a limited overlap between the genes exhibiting DAS and those showing differential gene expression (DEG), indicating that AS may function as a distinct regulatory mechanism independent of transcriptional regulation in response to heat stress. This is the first comprehensive study on AS in crustacea species under heat stress, which broadens our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms governing the crustaceans' response to environmental stress, providing valuable insights for the aquaculture breeding of shrimp and other aquatic animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxi Zhang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Xiaojun Zhang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Jianbo Yuan
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Fuhua Li
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China
- Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
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A Quality Control Mechanism of Splice Site Selection Abrogated under Stress and in Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14071750. [PMID: 35406522 PMCID: PMC8996931 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14071750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Splicing and alternative splicing play a major role in regulating gene expression, and mis-regulation of splicing can lead to several diseases, including cancer. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge of a quality control mechanism of splice site selection termed Suppression of Splicing (SOS), proposed to protect cells from splicing at the numerous intronic unused 5′ splice sites, and emphasize its relevance to cancer. This relevance stems from the finding that SOS is abrogated under stress and in cancer resulting in the expression of thousands of aberrant nonsense mRNAs that may be toxic to cells. These findings highlight the unexplored potential of such aberrant isoforms as novel targets for cancer diagnosis and therapies. Abstract Latent 5’ splice sites, highly abundant in human introns, are not normally used. This led to the proposal of a quality control mechanism, Suppression of Splicing (SOS), which protects cells from splicing at the numerous intronic latent sites, and whose activation can generate nonsense mRNAs. SOS was shown to be independent of Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD). Efforts to decipher the SOS mechanism revealed a pivotal role for initiator-tRNA, independent of protein translation. Recently, nucleolin (a multifunctional protein) was found to directly and specifically bind the initiator-tRNA in the nucleus and was shown to be a protein component of SOS, enabling an updated model of the SOS mechanism. Importantly, SOS is abrogated under stress and in cancer (e.g., in breast cancer cells and gliomas), generating thousands of nonsense mRNAs due to activation of latent splicing. The resulting affected human genes cover a variety of functional groups, including genes involved in cell proliferation and differentiation. Furthermore, in oligodendroglioma, the extent of activation of latent splicing increases with the severity of the cancer. Interesting examples are genes expressing aberrant nonsense mRNAs in both breast cancer and glioma, due to latent splicing activation. These findings highlight the unexplored potential of such aberrant isoforms as novel targets for cancer diagnosis and therapies.
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Huang S, Dou J, Li Z, Hu L, Yu Y, Wang Y. Analysis of Genomic Alternative Splicing Patterns in Rat under Heat Stress Based on RNA-Seq Data. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13020358. [PMID: 35205403 PMCID: PMC8871965 DOI: 10.3390/genes13020358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Heat stress is one of the most severe challenges faced in livestock production in summer. Alternative splicing as an important post-transcriptional regulation is rarely studied in heat-stressed animals. Here, we performed and analyzed RNA-sequencing assays on the liver of Sprague-Dawley rats in control (22 °C, n = 5) and heat stress (4 °C for 120 min, H120; n = 5) groups, resulting in the identification of 636 differentially expressed genes. Identification analysis of the alternative splicing events revealed that heat stress-induced alternative splicing events increased by 20.18%. Compared with other types of alternative splicing events, the alternative start increased the most (43.40%) after heat stress. Twenty-eight genes were differentially alternatively spliced (DAS) between the control and H120 groups, among which Acly, Hnrnpd and mir3064 were also differentially expressed. For DAS genes, Srebf1, Shc1, Srsf5 and Ensa were associated with insulin, while Cast, Srebf1, Tmem33, Tor1aip2, Slc39a7 and Sqstm1 were enriched in the composition of the endoplasmic reticulum. In summary, our study conducts a comprehensive profile of alternative splicing in heat-stressed rats, indicating that alternative splicing is one of the molecular mechanisms of heat stress response in mammals and providing reference data for research on heat tolerance in mammalian livestock.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shangzhen Huang
- National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, MARA, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (S.H.); (L.H.); (Y.Y.)
| | - Jinhuan Dou
- Animal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China
- Correspondence: (J.D.); (Y.W.)
| | - Zhongshu Li
- Agricultural College, Yanbian University, Yanji 133002, China;
| | - Lirong Hu
- National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, MARA, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (S.H.); (L.H.); (Y.Y.)
| | - Ying Yu
- National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, MARA, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (S.H.); (L.H.); (Y.Y.)
| | - Yachun Wang
- National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, MARA, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (S.H.); (L.H.); (Y.Y.)
- Correspondence: (J.D.); (Y.W.)
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Shefer K, Boulos A, Gotea V, Arafat M, Ben Chaim Y, Muharram A, Isaac S, Eden A, Sperling J, Elnitski L, Sperling R. A novel role for nucleolin in splice site selection. RNA Biol 2021; 19:333-352. [PMID: 35220879 PMCID: PMC8890436 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2021.2020455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Latent 5' splice sites, not normally used, are highly abundant in human introns, but are activated under stress and in cancer, generating thousands of nonsense mRNAs. A previously proposed mechanism to suppress latent splicing was shown to be independent of NMD, with a pivotal role for initiator-tRNA independent of protein translation. To further elucidate this mechanism, we searched for nuclear proteins directly bound to initiator-tRNA. Starting with UV-crosslinking, we identified nucleolin (NCL) interacting directly and specifically with initiator-tRNA in the nucleus, but not in the cytoplasm. Next, we show the association of ini-tRNA and NCL with pre-mRNA. We further show that recovery of suppression of latent splicing by initiator-tRNA complementation is NCL dependent. Finally, upon nucleolin knockdown we show activation of latent splicing in hundreds of coding transcripts having important cellular functions. We thus propose nucleolin, a component of the endogenous spliceosome, through its direct binding to initiator-tRNA and its effect on latent splicing, as the first protein of a nuclear quality control mechanism regulating splice site selection to protect cells from latent splicing that can generate defective mRNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinneret Shefer
- Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
| | - Ayub Boulos
- Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
| | - Valer Gotea
- Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MDUSA
| | - Maram Arafat
- Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
| | - Yair Ben Chaim
- Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University, RaananaIsrael
| | - Aya Muharram
- Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
| | - Sara Isaac
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
| | - Amir Eden
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
| | - Joseph Sperling
- Department of Organic Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, RehovotIsrael
| | - Laura Elnitski
- Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MDUSA
| | - Ruth Sperling
- Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIsrael
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Suresh S, Crease TJ, Cristescu ME, Chain FJJ. Alternative splicing is highly variable among Daphnia pulex lineages in response to acute copper exposure. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:433. [PMID: 32586292 PMCID: PMC7318467 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-06831-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite being one of the primary mechanisms of gene expression regulation in eukaryotes, alternative splicing is often overlooked in ecotoxicogenomic studies. The process of alternative splicing facilitates the production of multiple mRNA isoforms from a single gene thereby greatly increasing the diversity of the transcriptome and proteome. This process can be important in enabling the organism to cope with stressful conditions. Accurate identification of splice sites using RNA sequencing requires alignment to independent exonic positions within the genome, presenting bioinformatic challenges, particularly when using short read data. Although technological advances allow for the detection of splicing patterns on a genome-wide scale, very little is known about the extent of intraspecies variation in splicing patterns, particularly in response to environmental stressors. In this study, we used RNA-sequencing to study the molecular responses to acute copper exposure in three lineages of Daphnia pulex by focusing on the contribution of alternative splicing in addition to gene expression responses. RESULTS By comparing the overall gene expression and splicing patterns among all 15 copper-exposed samples and 6 controls, we identified 588 differentially expressed (DE) genes and 16 differentially spliced (DS) genes. Most of the DS genes (13) were not found to be DE, suggesting unique transcriptional regulation in response to copper that went unnoticed with conventional DE analysis. To understand the influence of genetic background on gene expression and alternative splicing responses to Cu, each of the three lineages was analyzed separately. In contrast to the overall analysis, each lineage had a higher proportion of unique DS genes than DE genes suggesting that genetic background has a larger influence on DS than on DE. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that some pathways involved in stress response were jointly regulated by DS and DE genes while others were regulated by only transcription or only splicing. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest an important role for alternative splicing in shaping transcriptome diversity in response to metal exposure in Daphnia, highlighting the importance of integrating splicing analyses with gene expression surveys to characterize molecular pathways in evolutionary and environmental studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sneha Suresh
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA
- Present address: The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Teresa J Crease
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Melania E Cristescu
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Docteur Penfield, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Frédéric J J Chain
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA.
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Sperling R. Small non-coding RNA within the endogenous spliceosome and alternative splicing regulation. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-GENE REGULATORY MECHANISMS 2019; 1862:194406. [PMID: 31323432 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2019.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2019] [Revised: 07/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Splicing and alternative splicing (AS), which occur in the endogenous spliceosome, play major roles in regulating gene expression, and defects in them are involved in numerous human diseases including cancer. Although the mechanism of the splicing reaction is well understood, the regulation of AS remains to be elucidated. A group of essential regulatory factors in gene expression are small non-coding RNAs (sncRNA): e.g. microRNA, mainly known for their inhibitory role in translation in the cytoplasm; and small nucleolar RNA, known for their role in methylating non-coding RNA in the nucleolus. Here I highlight a new aspect of sncRNAs found within the endogenous spliceosome. Assembled in non-canonical complexes and through different base pairing than their canonical ones, spliceosomal sncRNAs can potentially target different RNAs. Examples of spliceosomal sncRNAs regulating AS, regulating gene expression, and acting in a quality control of AS are reviewed, suggesting novel functions for spliceosomal sncRNAs. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: RNA structure and splicing regulation edited by Francisco Baralle, Ravindra Singh and Stefan Stamm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Sperling
- Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
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