Advances in ABO gene expression regulation

The ABO blood group system is vital to blood transfusion and organ transplantation. ABO antigens are the most important of all blood group antigens in clinical practice, and are not only present in red blood cells and platelets, but also in most secretions and epithelial tissues. ABO antigens are known to undergo drastic changes during the development, differentiation, and maturation of normal cells. Profound changes have also been documented in pathological processes such as tumorigenesis. To elucidate the molecular basis of how ABO genes are controlled in cell type specific expressions, such as normal cell differentiation or in cancer cells lacking A/B antigens, it is essential to understand the regulatory mechanisms of ABO gene expression. In this review, current knowledge concerning the regulatory mechanisms of ABO gene expression was summarized.     

非编码RNA与基因表达调控

近年来,随着对基因组的深入研究,发现真核生物中存在许多形态和功能各异的非编码RNA分子,这类RNA分子并不表达蛋白质,但它们在基因转录水平、转录后水平及翻译水平起了重要的调控作用。具有调控作用的RNA分子种类非常丰富,如长链非编码RNA(long non-coding RNA,lncRNA)、miRNA、PIWI相互作用RNA(PIWI-interacting RNA,piRNA)、内源性小干扰RNA(endogenous small interfering RNA,endo-siRNA)、竞争性内源RNA(competitive endogenous RNA,ceRNA)等,它们使基因表达过程更为丰富、严谨和有序。本文综述几类典型的非编码RNA对基因表达的调节作用,以助于理解细胞中RNA分子调节网络的功能和机制。     

RNA在RNA剪接中的功能：从催化到调控

对非编码RNA功能的认识是后基因组时代的一个研究焦点,本文主要介绍非编码RNA在RNA剪接中的催化和调控功能。在RNA加工过程中,三大类内含子的剪接都是由RNA成员主导。其中Ⅰ型和Ⅱ型内含子能催化自身的切除和外显子连接反应;而核mRNA内含子的剪接则由剪接体里的小核RNA主导。Ⅰ型和Ⅱ型内含子存在于细菌、低等真核细胞和植物的细胞器内;而真核细胞的核编码蛋白质基因内全部是核mRNA内含子,并且其数目随生物体的复杂性而显著升高。一个多内含子前体mRNA通过选择性剪接产生多种,甚至上万种不同的mRNA和蛋白质,对蛋白质组的复杂度和时空表达调控至关重要。选择性剪接调控由剪接调控蛋白特异识别和结合前体mRNA里所富含的顺式RNA调控元件完成的;系统认识这两者之间的对应关系是揭示基因组表达调控网络的一把钥匙。     

RNA剪接和剪接调控

ＲＮＡ剪接和剪接调控桂建芳（中国科学院水生生物研究所武汉４３００７２）基因是遗传的功能单位,蛋白是由基因表达的行使生理功能的主体。７０年代以前,人们对基因和蛋白的了解主要是来自于对细菌研究的认识,认为基因、ｍＲＮＡ和蛋白之间是一种线性关系,即基因上的脱氧核苷顺序全部转录成ｍＲＮＡ上的核苷顺序,ｍＲＮＡ上的核苷顺序再全部翻译成蛋白上的氨基酸顺序。     

Alternative mRNA processing increases the complexity of microRNA-based gene regulation in Arabidopsis

During trans-splicing of discontinuous organellar introns, independently transcribed coding sequences are joined together to generate a continuous mRNA. The chloroplast psaA gene from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii encoding the P(700) core protein of photosystem I (PSI) is split into three exons and two group IIB introns, which are both spliced in trans. Using forward genetics, we isolated a novel PSI mutant, raa4, with a defect in trans-splicing of the first intron. Complementation analysis identified the affected gene encoding the 112.4 kDa Raa4 protein, which shares no strong sequence identity with other known proteins. The chloroplast localization of the protein was confirmed by confocal fluorescence microscopy, using a GFP-tagged Raa4 fusion protein. RNA-binding studies showed that Raa4 binds specifically to domains D2 and D3, but not to other conserved domains of the tripartite group II intron. Raa4 may play a role in stabilizing folding intermediates or functionally active structures of the split intron RNA.     

Pre-mRNA processing enhancer (PPE) element increases the expression of an intronless thymidylate synthase gene but does not affect intron-dependent S phase regulation

The pre-mRNA processing enhancer (PPE) element is an RNA sequence element derived from the intronless HSV-TK gene. Insertion of the element into the highly intron-dependent human β-globin gene leads to efficient expression in the absence of splicing. We have analyzed the effect of the PPE element on the expression of mouse thymidylate synthase (TS) minigenes. We have previously shown that the expression of intronless TS minigenes is moderately (up to 20-fold) stimulated by the inclusion of introns. Furthermore, S phase-specific expression of TS minigenes in growth-stimulated cells depends on the presence of a spliceable intron as well as the TS promoter. The goal of our study was to determine if the PPE element would overcome the dependence on introns for efficient expression and for S phase-specific expression of transfected TS minigenes. We found that insertion of the PPE element into an intronless TS minigene partially overcame intron dependence. However, the increase in expression was much less than that observed for the intronless β-globin gene. We also found that intronless TS or HSV-TK genes that contained the PPE element and that were driven by the TS promoter were expressed at a constant level in serum-stimulated cells. However, when an intron was included in these genes, they were expressed in an S phase-specific manner. Thus the PPE element was not able to overcome the dependence on introns for S phase-specific expression of TS minigenes. J. Cell. Biochem. 69:104–116, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Systematic mapping of nuclear domain-associated transcripts reveals speckles and lamina as hubs of functionally distinct retained introns

1. Download : Download high-res image (259KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

生物钟的转录后与翻译后水平调控进展

哺乳动物中的昼夜节律系统由位于下丘脑SCN核内的生物钟主钟和位于多数外周细胞中的子钟组成。在分子水平上,生物钟的节律振荡由生物钟基因及其编码蛋白的转录和翻译形成的自主的反馈环路组成,并接受外界因素的影响与环境周期保持同步。为此,就生物钟的调控机制而言,除了转录水平的基因表达调控外,生物钟转录产物和蛋白质的修饰也可以显著影响生物钟基因的表达时相。讨论了一些转录后与翻译后的修饰作用及其对生物钟的影响,并对其今后的研究方向作了展望。