人类基因组中可变和组成性剪接位点的预测

根据剪接位点的核酸序列保守特征,以及邻近位点的碱基组成和关联特性,结合一对可变剪接位点之间的距离参数和受体端剪接位点前30位碱基的GC和TC含量,利用结合多样性指标的二次判别方法（IDQD）,预测了人类基因组中可变和组成性内含子的供体端和受体端的剪接位点,对可变的供体端和受体端剪接位点,阈值ξ选择－2时,总的预测精度分别为87．9％和89．9％,对组成性的供体端和受体端剪接位点,阈值ξ选择－1,总的预测精度分别为92．8％和94.3％．     

基于RNA-Seq数据识别果蝇剪接位点和可变剪接事件

完整基因结构的预测是当前生命科学研究的一个重要基础课题,其中一个关键环节是剪接位点和各种可变剪接事件的精确识别.基于转录组测序（RNA-seq）数据,识别剪接位点和可变剪接事件是近几年随着新一代测序技术发展起来的新技术策略和方法.本工作基于黑腹果蝇睾丸RNA-seq数据,使用TopHat软件成功识别出39718个果蝇剪接位点,其中有10584个新剪接位点.同时,基于剪接位点的不同组合,针对各类型可变剪接特征开发出计算识别算法,成功识别了8477个可变剪接事件（其中新识别的可变剪接事件3922个）,包括可变供体位点、可变受体位点、内含子保留和外显子缺失4种类型.RT-PCR实验验证了2个果蝇基因上新识别的可变剪接事件,发现了全新的剪接异构体.进一步表明,RNA-seq数据可有效应用于识别剪接位点和可变剪接事件,为深入揭示剪接机制及可变剪接生物学功能提供新思路和新手段.     

真核生物mRNA二级结构与内含子剪接

对68个外显子-内含子-外显子序列片段以及相应的外显子-外显子序列片段的二级结构进行分析后发现,内含子5′端和3′端的碱基G(剪接位点)中大约90％位于二级结构的环区或是茎区的端部并靠近环,而且位于环区的G也多靠近环的基部;92％的外显子拼接位点也有类似性质. 约82％的分枝点A位于环区或环与茎的连接部位. 折叠结构的形成使剪接位点和分枝点在空间上彼此靠近.     

真生物mRNA二级结构与内含子剪接

对６８个外显子－内含子－外显子序列片段以及相应的外显子－外显子序列片段的二级结构进行分析后发现,内含子５‘端和３’端的碱基Ｇ（剪拉位点）中大约９０％们一级结构的环区或是茎区的端部并靠近环,贿位于环区的Ｇ也多靠近环的基部;９２％的外显子拼接位点也有类似性质,约８２％的分枝点Ａ位于环区或环与茎的连接部位,折叠结构的形成使剪接位点和分枝点在空间上彼此靠近。     

LDL受体基因内含子15结构分析及其在家族性高胆固醇血症基因诊断中的应用

为了解人类ＬＤＬ受体基因内含子１５的遗传背景,利用长链ＰＣＲ和锚定ＰＣＲ分离了ＬＤＬ受体基因外显子１５－内含子１５－外显子１６和内含子１５的３‘末端片段。利用Ｄｙｎａｌｂｅａｄｓ固相单链分离ＰＣＲ产物直接测序法测定了内含子１５ ３’末端１２２２个碱基序列。序列显示：３‘末端含有由１６个碱基组成的典型３’末端剪接位点;３‘端上游第３１个碱基处含有经典分支位点,除了经典分支位点外,在３’末端上游第２０     

mRNA选择性剪接的分子机制

真核细胞mRNA前体经过剪接成为成熟的mRNA,而mRNA前体的选择性剪接极大地增加了蛋白质的多样性和基因表达的复杂程度,剪接位点的识别可以以跨越内含子的机制(内含子限定)或跨越外显子的机制(外显子限定)进行。选择性剪接有多种剪接形式：选择不同的剪接位点,选择不同的剪接末端,外显子的不同组合及内含子的剪接与否等。选择性剪接过程受到许多顺式元件和反式因子的调控,并与基本剪接过程紧密联系,剪接体中的一些剪接因子也参与了对选择性剪接的调控。选择性剪接也是1个伴随转录发生的过程,不同的启动子可调控产生不同的剪接产物。mRNA的选择性剪接机制多种多样,已发现RNA编辑和反式剪接也可参与选择性剪接过程。     

绵羊不同发育阶段背最长肌组织中可变剪接的鉴定与分析

可变剪接(Alternative splicing,AS)是动植物体内蛋白质多样性和遗传多样性的重要调控机制。为鉴定和分析绵羊不同发育阶段背最长肌组织中可变剪接,对多浪绵羊妊娠90日龄胎儿(F90)、出生后30日龄羔羊(L30)和成年3岁羊(A3Y)的背最长肌组织进行转录组测序,利用rMATS软件鉴定样品中的可变剪接事件和差异剪接基因(Differential splicing gene,DSG),并对DSG进行GO和KEGG功能富集分析。结果表明,绵羊背最长肌组织在F90、L30和A3Y时期分别鉴定出13 923、11 959和12 164个可变剪接事件,其中外显子跳跃(Skipped exons,SE)的比例最高,约为70.69%,5'端可变剪接位点(Alternative 5'splice sites,A5SS)、3'端可变剪接位点(Alternative 3'splice sites,A3SS)、互斥外显子(Mutually exclusive exons,MXE)和内含子保留(Retained introns,RI)的比例分别约为7.28%、11.18%、5.96%和4.84%。在F90_vs_L30、F90_vs_A3Y和L30_vs_A3Y比较组中分别鉴定到2 545、2 689和1 701个显著的差异剪接基因(P0.05)。GO和KEGG功能富集分析显示,差异剪接基因显著富集到横纹肌发育、肌肉结构发育、肌细胞分化、肌膜、胰岛素信号通路、Wnt信号通路、MAPK信号通路等与肌肉发育密切相关的通路上。上述结果表明可变剪接在背最长肌发育中发挥重要作用。     

基于统计差表与加权投票的高精度剪接位点预测

基于机器学习的高精度剪接位点识别是真核生物基因组注释的关键.本文采用卡方测验确定序列窗口长度,构建卡方统计差表提取位置特征,并结合碱基二联体频次表征序列;针对剪接位点正负样本高度不均衡这一情形,构建10个正负样本均衡的支持向量机分类器,进行加权投票决策,有效解决了不平衡模式分类问题. HS~3D数据集上的独立测试结果显示,供体、受体位点预测准确率分别达到93.39%、90.46%,明显高于参比方法.基于卡方统计差表的位置特征能有效表征DNA序列,在分子序列信号位点识别中具有应用前景.     

可变剪接调控因子SRSF2的研究进展

RNA剪接是指从mRNA前体中去除内含子、连接外显子形成成熟mRNA的过程。由于选择不同的剪接位点,可变剪接控制着从单一前体mRNA生成多种成熟mRNA的过程,因此是真核生物中转录后调控基因表达和决定蛋白质多样性的重要层次。SR蛋白家族是参与调控可变剪接的一类重要的剪接因子。SRSF2是SR蛋白家族的一员,具有经典的SR蛋白结构域。SRSF2不仅能够调控可变剪接,还能调控基因的转录过程,在维持胸腺、骨髓等造血系统的正常发育以及维持肝脏代谢稳态中是非常关键的调控因子。大量的研究表明:SRSF2的突变与骨髓增生异常综合征等造血系统疾病密切相关。本文总结了SRSF2最近的研究进展,以期对SRSF2在体内的功能有更全面和深入的理解,并为相关疾病的研究和治疗提供一定的思路。     

大鼠Mocs2基因跳跃型外显子可变剪接保留率的检测

可变剪接是真核生物基因表达调控的一种重要方式,它通过剪接位点调控ORFs (Open reading frames)区域外显子或内含子的表达,产生不同的mRNA剪接体,进一步翻译成具有相同或不同功能的蛋白质,从而对诸如发育、疾病、环境响应等生物学过程产生重要影响.已有文献报道,人类Mocs2基因exon 1a与exon 1b外显子发生互斥型可变剪接,产生的两个剪接体分别编码钼喋呤合酶的大小亚基,参与钼辅因子生物的合成过程.基于本课题组前期大鼠肺部组织RNA-seq测序的结果,发现Mocs2基因2号外显子转录后可被剪接或保留,产生两个不同的剪接体.为验证测序结果的准确性,本研究利用半定量PCR与实时荧光定量PCR两种方法检测大鼠脑、海马、肺组织中Mocs2基因2号外显子的保留率.半定量PCR方法检测大鼠肺、海马、大脑组织中Mocs2基因的保留率分别为(88.28±3.09)％、(99.44±0.24)％、(99.54±0.19)％.实时荧光定量PCR检测的保留率分别为(66.76±20.47)％、(75.60±12.44)％、(87.28±16.4)％.实验结果表明,Mocs2基因2号外显子在大鼠中存在可变剪接现象,且不同组织具有一定差异.本工作进一步验证了两种PCR方法检测前体mRNA可变剪接保留率的可行性.     

Predicting internal exons by oligonucleotide composition and discriminant analysis of spliceable open reading frames.

A new method which predicts internal exon sequences in human DNA has been developed. The method is based on a splice site prediction algorithm that uses the linear discriminant function to combine information about significant triplet frequencies of various functional parts of splice site regions and preferences of oligonucleotides in protein coding and intron regions. The accuracy of our splice site recognition function is 97% for donor splice sites and 96% for acceptor splice sites. For exon prediction, we combine in a discriminant function the characteristics describing the 5'-intron region, donor splice site, coding region, acceptor splice site and 3'-intron region for each open reading frame flanked by GT and AG base pairs. The accuracy of precise internal exon recognition on a test set of 451 exon and 246693 pseudoexon sequences is 77% with a specificity of 79%. The recognition quality computed at the level of individual nucleotides is 89% for exon sequences and 98% for intron sequences. This corresponds to a correlation coefficient for exon prediction of 0.87. The precision of this approach is better than other methods and has been tested on a larger data set. We have also developed a means for predicting exon-exon junctions in cDNA sequences, which can be useful for selecting optimal PCR primers.     

Human GC-AG alternative intron isoforms with weak donor sites show enhanced consensus at acceptor exon positions

It has been previously observed that the intrinsically weak variant GC donor sites, in order to be recognized by the U2-type spliceosome, possess strong consensus sequences maximized for base pair formation with U1 and U5/U6 snRNAs. However, variability in signal strength is a fundamental mechanism for splice site selection in alternative splicing. Here we report human alternative GC-AG introns (for the first time from any species), and show that while constitutive GC-AG introns do possess strong signals at their donor sites, a large subset of alternative GC-AG introns possess weak consensus sequences at their donor sites. Surprisingly, this subset of alternative isoforms shows strong consensus at acceptor exon positions 1 and 2. The improved consensus at the acceptor exon can facilitate a strong interaction with U5 snRNA, which tethers the two exons for ligation during the second step of splicing. Further, these isoforms nearly always possess alternative acceptor sites and exhibit particularly weak polypyrimidine tracts characteristic of AG-dependent introns. The acceptor exon nucleotides are part of the consensus required for the U2AF³⁵-mediated recognition of AG in such introns. Such improved consensus at acceptor exons is not found in either normal or alternative GT-AG introns having weak donor sites or weak polypyrimidine tracts. The changes probably reflect mechanisms that allow GC-AG alternative intron isoforms to cope with two conflicting requirements, namely an apparent need for differential splice strength to direct the choice of alternative sites and a need for improved donor signals to compensate for the central mismatch base pair (C-A) in the RNA duplex of U1 snRNA and the pre-mRNA. The other important findings include (i) one in every twenty alternative introns is a GC-AG intron, and (ii) three of every five observed GC-AG introns are alternative isoforms.     

Extent and diversity of human alternative splicing established by complementary database annotation and microarray analysis

Alternative splicing generates functional diversity in higher organisms through alternative first and last exons, skipped and included exons, intron retentions and alternative donor, and acceptor sites. In large-scale microarray studies in humans and the mouse, emphasis so far has been placed on exon-skip events, leaving the prevalence and importance of other splice types largely unexplored. Using a new human splice variant database and a genome-wide microarray to probes thousands of splice events of each type, we measured differential expression of splice types across six pair of diverse cell lines and validated the database annotation process. Results suggest that splicing in humans is more complex than simple exon-skip events, which account for a minority of splicing differences. The relative frequency of differential expression of the splice types correlates with what is found by our annotation efforts. In conclusion, alternative splicing in human cells is considerably more complex than the canonical example of the exon skip. The complementary approaches of genome-wide annotation of alternative splicing in human and design of genome-wide splicing microarrays to measure differential splicing in biological samples provide a powerful high-throughput tool to study the role of alternative splicing in human biology.     

In vivo effects on intron retention and exon skipping by the U2AF large subunit and SF1/BBP in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

The in vivo analysis of the roles of splicing factors in regulating alternative splicing in animals remains a challenge. Using a microarray-based screen, we identified a Caenorhabditis elegans gene, tos-1, that exhibited three of the four major types of alternative splicing: intron retention, exon skipping, and, in the presence of U2AF large subunit mutations, the use of alternative 3' splice sites. Mutations in the splicing factors U2AF large subunit and SF1/BBP altered the splicing of tos-1. 3' splice sites of the retained intron or before the skipped exon regulate the splicing pattern of tos-1. Our study provides in vivo evidence that intron retention and exon skipping can be regulated largely by the identities of 3' splice sites.     

Intrasplicing coordinates alternative first exons with alternative splicing in the protein 4.1R gene

In the protein 4.1R gene, alternative first exons splice differentially to alternative 3' splice sites far downstream in exon 2'/2 (E2'/2). We describe a novel intrasplicing mechanism by which exon 1A (E1A) splices exclusively to the distal E2'/2 acceptor via two nested splicing reactions regulated by novel properties of exon 1B (E1B). E1B behaves as an exon in the first step, using its consensus 5' donor to splice to the proximal E2'/2 acceptor. A long region of downstream intron is excised, juxtaposing E1B with E2'/2 to generate a new composite acceptor containing the E1B branchpoint/pyrimidine tract and E2 distal 3' AG-dinucleotide. Next, the upstream E1A splices over E1B to this distal acceptor, excising the remaining intron plus E1B and E2' to form mature E1A/E2 product. We mapped branchpoints for both intrasplicing reactions and demonstrated that mutation of the E1B 5' splice site or branchpoint abrogates intrasplicing. In the 4.1R gene, intrasplicing ultimately determines N-terminal protein structure and function. More generally, intrasplicing represents a new mechanism by which alternative promoters can be coordinated with downstream alternative splicing.