Widespread generation of alternative UTRs contributes to sex-specific RNA binding by UNR.
RNA, 2012/1;18(1):53-64.
Mihailovic M[1], Mihailovich M, Wurth L, Zambelli F, Abaza I, Militti C, Mancuso FM, Roma G, Pavesi G, Gebauer F
Affiliations
PMID: 22101243DOI: 10.1261/rna.029603.111
Impact factor: 5.636
Abstract
Upstream of N-ras (UNR) is a conserved RNA-binding protein that regulates mRNA translation and stability by binding to sites generally located in untranslated regions (UTRs). In Drosophila, sex-specific binding of UNR to msl2 mRNA and the noncoding RNA roX is believed to play key roles in the control of X-chromosome dosage compensation in both sexes. To investigate broader sex-specific functions of UNR, we have identified its RNA targets in adult male and female flies by high-throughput RNA binding and transcriptome analysis. Here we show that UNR binds to a large set of protein-coding transcripts and to a smaller set of noncoding RNAs in a sex-specific fashion. The analyses also reveal a strong correlation between sex-specific binding of UNR and sex-specific differential expression of UTRs in target genes. Validation experiments indicate that UNR indeed recognizes sex-specifically processed transcripts. These results suggest that UNR exploits the transcript diversity generated by alternative processing and alternative promoter usage to bind and regulate target genes in a sex-specific manner.
MeSH terms
Animals; DNA-Binding Proteins; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Male; Nuclear Proteins; Promoter Regions, Genetic; RNA, Messenger; Sex Factors; Transcription Factors; Transcription, Genetic; Untranslated Regions
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