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Minati L, Firrito C, Del Piano A, Peretti A, Sidoli S, Peroni D, Belli R, Gandolfi F, Romanel A, Bernabo P, Zasso J, Quattrone A, Guella G, Lauria F, Viero G, Clamer M. One-shot analysis of translated mammalian lncRNAs with AHARIBO. eLife 2021; 10:59303. [PMID: 33594971 PMCID: PMC7932693 DOI: 10.7554/elife.59303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A vast portion of the mammalian genome is transcribed as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) acting in the cytoplasm with largely unknown functions. Surprisingly, lncRNAs have been shown to interact with ribosomes, encode peptides, or act as ribosome sponges. These functions still remain mostly undetected and understudied owing to the lack of efficient tools for genome-wide simultaneous identification of ribosome-associated and peptide-producing lncRNAs. Here, we present AHA-mediated RIBOsome isolation (AHARIBO), a method for the detection of lncRNAs either untranslated, but associated with ribosomes, or encoding small peptides. Using AHARIBO in mouse embryonic stem cells during neuronal differentiation, we isolated ribosome-protected RNA fragments, translated RNAs, and corresponding de novo synthesized peptides. Besides identifying mRNAs under active translation and associated ribosomes, we found and distinguished lncRNAs acting as ribosome sponges or encoding micropeptides, laying the ground for a better functional understanding of hundreds of lncRNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Simone Sidoli
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United States
| | - Daniele Peroni
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Romina Belli
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Francesco Gandolfi
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Romanel
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | | | - Jacopo Zasso
- Laboratory of Translational Genomics, Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Quattrone
- Laboratory of Translational Genomics, Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | | | - Fabio Lauria
- Institute of Biophysics, CNR Unit at Trento, Trento, Italy
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Abstract
Recent advancements in genetic and proteomic technologies have revealed that more of the genome encodes proteins than originally thought possible. Specifically, some putative long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been misannotated as noncoding. Numerous lncRNAs have been found to contain short open reading frames (sORFs) which have been overlooked because of their small size. Many of these sORFs encode small proteins or micropeptides with fundamental biological importance. These micropeptides can aid in diverse processes, including cell division, transcription regulation, and cell signaling. Here we discuss strategies for establishing the coding potential of putative lncRNAs and describe various functions of known micropeptides.
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