RNA最新文献

Environmental stress activates transposons and is proposed to generate genetic diversity that facilitates adaptive evolution. piRNAs guide germline transposon silencing, but the impact of stress on the piRNA pathway is not well understood. In Drosophila, the Rhino-Deadlock-Cuff complex (RDC) drives transcription of clusters composed of nested transposon fragments, generating precursors that are processed into mature piRNAs in the cytoplasm. We show that acute heat shock triggers rapid, reversable loss of RDC localization and cluster transcript expression with coordinate changes in the cytoplasmic processing machinery. Maternal piRNAs bound to Piwi are proposed to guide Rhino localization to clusters during early embryogenesis. However, RDC re-localization after heat shock is accelerated in piwi mutants and delayed in thoc7 mutants, which disrupt piRNA precursor binding to THO complex, and we show that maternally deposited piRNAs are dispensable for RDC localization to the major 42AB cluster. Cluster specification is reconsidered in light of these findings.

Ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq) is a next-generation, high-resolution sequencing technique that captures ribosome-protected mRNA fragments to map ribosome positions across the transcriptome. This method serves as a powerful proxy for global translational activity by revealing where ribosomes engage with mRNAs. Recent advances have expanded the utility of Ribo-seq to resolve distinct ribosome populations, including initiating ribosomes, small subunits, collided ribosomes, mitochondrial ribosomes, and those associated with specific translation factors or localized to subcellular compartments. These methodological advances have significantly broadened the scope of Ribo-seq, enabling new insights into the molecular mechanisms that govern translation across diverse eukaryotic systems. In this mini-review, we highlight key innovations in Ribo-seq technology and discuss how they have deepened our understanding of the spatial, temporal, and regulatory dimensions of translational control.

The piRNA biogenesis machinery localizes to phase separated nuage granules, but nuage function is not well understood. We therefore assayed nuage composition, piRNA expression and transposon silencing in Drosophila mutants that disrupt piRNA precursor production and nuclear export, ping-pong amplification and phased piRNA biogenesis. These mutations destabilize the genome and activate Chk2 signaling and chk2/mnk double mutants were therefore analyzed in parallel. Aub and Vasa are required for ping-pong amplification and Armi promotes phased piRNA processing. We show that Chk2 activation releases Aub and Vasa from nuage and that piRNA precursors are required for nuage localization of the ping-pong and phased biogenesis machinery. However, this analysis also indicates that Vasa, Aub, and Armi concentration in nuage is dispensable for piRNA production and transposon silencing, indicating that dispersed cytoplasmic proteins can drive these processes. We speculate that nuage sequesters silencing effectors, which are released by Chk2 in response to transposon mobilization.

Although protein-RNA interactions are crucial for many biological processes, predicting their binding free energies (ΔG) is a challenging task due to limited available experimental data and the complexity of these interactions. To address this issue, we developed a machine learning-based model designed to predict energy-based scores for protein-RNA complexes, called PANTHER score. By applying a local-to-global approach, the here proposed methodology can be subdivided into four steps: (1) we derived 87,117 pairwise local interaction energies out of 331,744 obtained from molecular dynamics simulations for a training set composed by 46 curated protein-RNA complexes; (2) we trained ML models derived from pairwise interaction features to predict the local interaction energies without performing MD runs; (3) we integrated the predicted local interaction energies with our here proposed local-to-global methodology, to calculate the model-specific PANTHER score; (4) we test the model-specific PANTHER score on a test set of 7 complexes (5) we further exposed all the models to an external stress set which includes 110 complexes with experimental ΔG allowing for final selection of the optimal model for implementation in the PANTHER scoring pipeline. Among all the multiple regression models developed here and evaluated on the test set, Random Forest Regression exhibited the highest predictive performance as a model-specific PANTHER score, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of (r) of 0.80 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.79 kcal/mol. Furthermore, the Random Forest Regression model maintained strong predictive capabilities on the stress set as well with (r) of 0.64 and MAE of 1.63 kcal/mol. Benchmarking against existing tools on the stress test set, the PANTHER score demonstrated superior accuracy and reliability. This study highlights the effectiveness of machine learning in addressing data limitations through innovative strategies, positioning here proposed PANTHER score as a valuable tool for predicting protein-RNA binding affinities in biomolecular research and drug discovery.

RNA 2'-phosphotransferase Tpt1 is a widely distributed enzyme that removes an internal RNA 2'-phosphate by transfer to NAD+. Tpt1 is essential in fungi, where it erases the 2'-PO4 mark installed by tRNA ligase during tRNA splicing. Tpt1 executes a two-step reaction in which: (i) the RNA 2'-PO4 attacks NAD+ to form an RNA-2'-phospho-(ADP-ribose) intermediate and expel nicotinamide; and (ii) the ADP-ribose O2'' attacks the RNA 2'-phosphodiester to form 2'-OH RNA and ADP-ribose-1'',2''-cyclic phosphate products. All Tpt1 enzymes studied to date are monofunctional units comprising a single bilobed fold composed of an RNA-binding lobe and an NAD+-binding lobe. We now find that fission yeast Tpt1 is an exception to this rule. Schizosaccharomyces pombe Tpt1 (SpTpt1) consists of an N-terminal RNA 2'-phosphotransferase catalytic domain (aa 1-237) linked to a C-terminal domain (aa 238-365) homologous to budding yeast iron-sulfur cluster assembly factor Yae1. The SpTpt1 catalytic domain and the Yae1 domain are both essential for S. pombe growth, though they need not be linked within the same polypeptide. A mutational analysis of the 2'-phosphotransferase domain illuminates the distinct contributions of essential active site constituents Arg50 and Arg96 during the two chemical steps of the Tpt1 pathway.

Eukaryotic translation initiation is critically regulated by 5' UTR features, including uORFs, Kozak sequences, and secondary structures, that modulate ribosome dynamics. Although canonical mRNAs dominate protein synthesis, ribosome profiling and peptidomics reveal ribosomes actively engaging putative non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), translating enigmatic short ORFs (sORFs). We systematically analyzed 5' UTR architectures across canonical mRNAs, ribosome-associated ncRNAs (translationally active), and non-translated ncRNAs using curated human datasets. mRNAs exhibited optimal translational features (short 5' UTRs, few uORFs), while translated ncRNAs showed intermediate features, and non-translated ncRNAs the weakest. Notably, mRNAs with long 5' UTRs maintained high translational efficiency through conserved regulatory elements. Integrating these features into our newly developed random forest model, plusCE, surpassed existing methods in predicting translation efficiency, suggesting their potential relevance to translation mechanisms and providing guidance for rational 5' UTR design to modulate translation. Although some ncRNAs are frequently bound by ribosomes, they show no evidence of stable translation, consistent with their lack of coding-related evolutionary signatures. Our analysis suggests that ribosome-bound ncRNAs may not reflect adaptive evolution toward coding function, but rather represent a reservoir of untranslated transcripts that engage the translation machinery through permissive sequence features. Together, these results demonstrate that ribosome engagement is primarily shaped by 5' UTR sequence features, highlighting the importance of regulatory grammar in translation control and complementing current models of ncRNA evolution.

Small RNAs play essential roles in gene regulation across diverse biological processes. Crosslinking, ligation, and sequencing of hybrids (CLASH) experiments have revealed that PIWI and Argonaute proteins can each bind a wide range of mRNA targets with distinct base-pairing rules, raising questions about the flexibility and functional relevance of these interactions. Given that crosslinking-induced mutations (CIMs) provide single-nucleotide resolution molecular footprints of RNA-binding proteins, we developed MUTACLASH, a bioinformatics tool for systematically analyzing CIMs in CLASH datasets. Our analyses indicate that CIMs function as molecular footprints of Argonaute binding on target mRNAs. Specifically, for C. elegans miRNA and piRNA CLASH data, CIMs are enriched at the center of small RNA binding sites, as well as at nucleotides within mRNA target sites that exhibit local mismatches in piRNA interactions. Furthermore, we show that mRNAs with non-canonical miRNA and piRNA binding sites and/or low hybrid abundance marked by CIMs exhibit stronger regulatory effects than those without CIMs, demonstrating the utility of CIM analysis in identifying functional small RNA binding sites, including those that are otherwise likely overlooked with current analysis tools.

In the twenty years since the first genome sequencing of Aspergillus fumigatus, the field has seen an explosion in both the number of sequenced genomes and our molecular understanding of this ubiquitous human fungal pathogen. Despite an improved knowledge of the A. fumigatus genome, we still know little about the transcriptome, with key regulatory sequences like the untranslated regions of mRNA based only on in silico predictions and bulk-RNA-seq. Here, we provide an improved description of 5' and 3' untranslated regions of A. fumigatus poly(A)-enriched RNA through experimental mapping of transcription start sites and polyadenylation sites using 5' and 3' End-Seq. We assigned high-quality 5' ends to 2,747 genes (average length 126 nt), 3' ends to 7,079 genes (average length 268 nt), and improved our understanding of the regulatory landscape of A. fumigatus gene expression. We leveraged the refined 5' UTRs to identify upstream open reading frames and binding sites for important RNA binding proteins like the translational regulator Ssd1 and the 3' UTRs to define binding sites for PUF proteins known to contribute to mRNA localization and regulation. Although a single isoform typically dominated expression, we observed 148 instances of alternative start sites and 1,675 alternative stop sites. Interestingly, we detected multiple examples of premature transcriptional termination, including the first evidence for promoter-proximal premature transcriptional termination in a member of the Eurotiomycetes. Ultimately, we provide a resource to the Aspergillus community and an accurate starting point for unravelling the complexities of gene regulation in an important human pathogen.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major global health burden, associated with chronic liver diseases including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Viral replication critically depends on conserved cis-acting RNA elements (CREs), such as the 5BSL3.2 stem-loop near the 3' end of the open reading frame. This element forms a long-range kissing-loop interaction with the SL2 domain of the 3'X tail, essential for efficient genome replication. However, the role of host RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in regulating this RNA-RNA interaction remains poorly understood. To explore this, we investigated whether the host RBP hnRNPA1 modulates HCV replication by targeting the 5BSL3.2 element. Using an integrated approach combining structural biology, biophysics, and biochemical assays, we identify the terminal loop of 5BSL3.2 as a high-affinity binding site for the tandem RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) of hnRNPA1. Our data reveal that adenine-rich residues within the loop are critical for binding specificity. Our results uncover a structural mechanism by which hnRNPA1 binding perturbs the kissing-loop interaction between 5BSL3.2 and the SL2 element of the viral 3'X-tail, which impacts viral replication. This study highlights a previously unrecognized role of hnRNPA1 in modulating viral RNA structure and suggests a novel interface for host-directed antiviral intervention.

Magnesium is vital for bacterial survival, and its homeostasis is tightly regulated. Intracellular pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) often face host-mediated magnesium limitation, which can be counteracted by upregulating the expression of Mg²⁺ transporters. This upregulation may be via Mg²⁺-sensing regulatory RNA such as the Bacillus subtilis ykoK Mbox riboswitch, which acts as a transcriptional "OFF-switch" under high Mg²⁺ conditions. Mtb encodes two Mbox elements with strong similarity to the ykoK Mbox. In the current study, we characterize the Mbox encoded upstream of the Mtb pe20 operon, which is required for growth in low Mg²⁺/low pH. We show that this switch operates via a translational expression platform and Rho-dependent transcription termination, which is the first such case reported for an Mbox. Moreover, we show that the switch directly controls a small ORF encoded upstream of pe20 We have annotated this highly conserved uORF rv1805A, but its role remains unclear. Interestingly, a homologous gene exists outside the Mbox-regulated context, suggesting functional importance beyond magnesium stress. Overall, this study uncovers a dual mechanism of riboswitch-regulation in Mtb, combining translational control with Rho-mediated transcription termination. These findings expand our understanding of RNA-based gene regulation in mycobacteria, with implications for pathogenesis and stress adaptation.