RNA Modification
Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator
LPBI
New RNA Modification Added to Epitranscriptomic Library
GEN News Highlights Feb 17, 2016 http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/new-rna-modification-added-to-epitranscriptomic-library/81252376/
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In 1956, Francis Crick—co-discoverer of DNA’s helical structure—postulated what is now considered to be a central doctrine of the biological sciences stating that “The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed residue-by-residue transfer of sequential information. It states that such information cannot be transferred back from protein to either protein or nucleic acid.” What Crick was suggesting was that DNA makes RNA and, in turn, RNA makes protein.
In the time since the initial proposal of the central dogma, scientists have come to understand that there are not only instances of reverse information flow from RNA to DNA, but chemical alterations to RNA structures that can have a profound effect on gene regulation. The discovery of these alterations has added a critical dimension to how scientists view the genetic code and recently spawned an entirely new field of study within molecular biology: the epitranscriptome.
Now, a recent study by scientists at the University of Chicago and Tel Aviv University has revealed evidence that provides a promising new lever in the control of gene expression. The researchers describe a small chemical modification to RNA that can significantly boost the conversion of genes to proteins.
The findings from this study were published recently in Nature through an article entitled “The dynamic N1-methyladenosine methylome in eukaryotic messenger RNA.”
“Epigenetics, the regulation of gene expression beyond the primary information encoded by DNA, was thought until recently to be mediated by modifications of proteins and DNA,” explained co-senior study author Gidi Rechavi, Ph.D., chair in oncology at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and head of the Cancer Research Center at Sheba Medical Center. “The new findings bring RNA to a central position in epigenetics.”
“This discovery further opens the window on a whole new world of biology for us to explore,” added co-senior study author Chuan He, Ph.D., professor in the department of chemistry and investigator within the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Chicago. “These modifications have a major impact on almost every biological process.”
Previously, Dr. He’s laboratory discovered the first RNA demethylase that reverses the most prevalent mRNA methylation N6-methyladenosine (m6A), implying that the addition and removal of the methyl group could dramatically affect these messengers and the outcome of gene expression—as also seen for DNA and histones—which subsequent research found to be true.
In the current study, the investigators described a second functional mRNA methylation, N1-methyladenosine (m1A). Like m6A, the small modification is evolutionarily conserved and common, present in humans, rodents, and yeast. However, its location and effect on gene expression reflect a new form of epitranscriptome control.
“The discovery of m1A is extremely important, not only because of its own potential in affecting biological processes but also because it validates the hypothesis that there is not just one functional modification,” Dr. He stated. “There could be multiple modifications at different sites where each may carry a distinct message to control the fate and function of mRNA.”
From their findings, the research team estimates that that m1A may be present on transcripts of more than one out of three expressed human genes—suggesting that m1A, like m6A, may be a mechanism by which cells rapidly boost the expression of hundreds or thousands of specific genes.
“mRNA is the perfect place to regulate gene expression because they can code information from transcription and directly impact translation—you can add a consensus sequence to a group of genes and use a modification of the sequence to readily control several hundred transcripts simultaneously,” Dr. He said. “If you want to rapidly change the expression of several hundred or a thousand genes, this offers the best way.”
The scientists were excited by their findings and have plans for future studies that will examine the role of m1A methylation in human development, for diseases such as diabetes and cancer, and its potential as a target for therapeutic uses.
“This study represents a breakthrough discovery in the exciting, nascent field of the ‘epitranscriptome,’ which is how RNAs are regulated, akin to the genome and the epigenome,” commented Christopher Mason, Ph.D., associate professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, who was not affiliated with the study. “What is important about this work is that m6A was recently found to enrich at the ends of genes, and now we know that m1A is what is helping regulate the beginning of genes, and this opens up many questions about revealing the ‘epitranscriptome code’ just like the histone code or the genetic code.”
The dynamic N1-methyladenosine methylome in eukaryotic messenger RNA
Dan Dominissini, Sigrid Nachtergaele, Sharon Moshitch-Moshkovitz, Nitzan Kol, et al.
Nature(2016 10 Feb ) http://dx.doi.org:/10.1038/nature16998 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature16998.html
Gene expression can be regulated post-transcriptionally through dynamic and reversible RNA modifications. A recent noteworthy example is N6-methyladenosine (m6A), which affects messenger RNA (mRNA) localization, stability, translation and splicing. Here we report on a new mRNA modification, N1-methyladenosine (m1A), that occurs on thousands of different gene transcripts in eukaryotic cells, from yeast to mammals, at an estimated average transcript stoichiometry of 20% in humans. Employing newly developed sequencing approaches, we show that m1A is enriched around the start codon upstream of the first splice site: it preferentially decorates more structured regions around canonical and alternative translation initiation sites, is dynamic in response to physiological conditions, and correlates positively with protein production. These unique features are highly conserved in mouse and human cells, strongly indicating a functional role for m1A in promoting translation of methylated mRNA.
Figure 1: Development of m1A-seq to map a newly identified constituent of mammalian mRNA.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/carousel/nature16998-f1.jpg
a, Chemical structures of m1A and m6A. Methyl groups (-CH3) are in red and the positive charge (+) on m1A is in blue. b, LC-MS/MS quantitation of m1A, m6A and Ψ in human and mouse mRNA isolated from the indicated cell types. …
Figure 3: m1A occurs in GC-rich sequence contexts and in genes with structured 5′ UTRs.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/carousel/nature16998-f3.jpg
a, Sequence frequency logo for a set of 192 adenosines in peak areas that have a higher mismatch rate in immunoprecipitation relative to input (FC ≥ 6) in HepG2 demonstrates the GC-rich context of m1A. b, Length-adjusted minimum free energy…
Figure 5: m1A in mRNA is a dynamic modification that responds to changing physiological and stress conditions, and varies between tissues.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/carousel/nature16998-f5.jpg
a, LC-MS/MS quantification of m1A (left, grey) and m6A (right, black) in mRNA of untreated and glucose-starved (upper panels) or heat shock-treated (lower panels) HepG2 cells, presented as percentage of unmodified A. Mean values ± s.e.m…
RNA modification discovery suggests new code for control of gene expression
A new cellular signal discovered by a team of scientists at the University of Chicago and Tel Aviv University provides a promising new lever in the control of gene expression. Gene expression study
The study, published online Feb. 10 in the journal Nature, describes a small chemical modification that can significantly boost the conversion of genes to proteins. Together with other recent findings, the discovery enriches a critical new dimension to the “Central Dogma” of molecular biology: the epitranscriptome.
“This discovery further opens the window on a whole new world of biology for us to explore,” said Chuan He, the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and senior author of the study. “These modifications have a major impact on almost every biological process.”
The central dogma of molecular biology describes the cellular pathway where genetic information from DNA is copied into temporary RNA “transcripts,” which provide the recipe for the production of proteins. Since Francis Crick first postulated the theory in 1956, scientists have discovered a multitude of modifications to DNA and proteins that regulate this process.
Only recently, however, have scientists focused on investigating dynamic modifications that specifically target the RNA step. In 2011, He’s group discovered the first RNA demethylase that reverses the most prevalent mRNA methylation N6-methyladenosine, or m6A, implying that the addition and removal of the methyl group could dramatically affect these messengers and impact the outcome of gene expression, as also seen for DNA and histones. Subsequently, scientists discovered that the dynamic and reversible methylation of m6A dramatically controlled the metabolism and function of most cellular messenger RNA, and thus, the production of proteins.
In the new Nature study, researchers from UChicago and Tel Aviv University describe a second functional mRNA methylation, N1-methyladenosine, or m1A. Like m6A, the small modification is evolutionarily conserved and common, and present in humans, rodents and yeast, the authors found. But its location and effect on gene expression reflect a new form of epitranscriptome control and suggest an even larger cellular “control panel.”
“The discovery of m1A is extremely important, not only because of its own potential in affecting biological processes, but also because it validates the hypothesis that there is not just one functional modification,” He said. “There could be multiple modifications at different sites where each may carry a distinct message to control the fate and function of mRNA.”
The researchers estimated that m1A was present on transcripts of more than one out of three expressed human genes. Methylated genes exhibited enhanced translation compared to unmethlyated genes, producing protein levels nearly twice as high in all cell types. This increase suggests that m1A, like m6A, may be a mechanism by which cells rapidly boost the expression of hundreds or thousands of specific genes, perhaps during important processes such as cell division, differentiation or under stress.
“mRNA is the perfect place to regulate gene expression, because they can code information from transcription and directly impact translation; you can add a consensus sequence to a group of genes and use a modification of the sequence to readily control several hundred transcripts simultaneously,” He said. “If you want to rapidly change the expression of several hundred or a thousand genes, this offers the best way.”
However, despite their complementary effects, m1A and m6A exert their influence on mRNA through different pathways. While studies have found that m6A localizes predominantly to the tail of messenger RNA molecules, increasing their translation and turnover rate, m1A was found largely near the start codon of mRNA transcripts, where protein translation begins. The different mechanisms could allow for finer tuning of post-transcriptional gene expression, or the selective activation of particular genes in different physiological situations.
“This study represents a breakthrough discovery in the exciting, nascent field of the ‘epitranscriptome,’ which is how RNAs are regulated, akin to the genome and the epigenome,” said Christopher Mason, associate professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, who was not affiliated with the study. “What is important about this work is that m6A was recently found to enrich at the ends of genes, and now we know that m1A is what is helping regulate the beginning of genes, and this opens up many questions about revealing the ‘epitranscriptome code’ just like the histone code or the genetic code.”
Future studies will examine the role of m1A methylation in human development, diseases such as diabetes and cancer, and its potential as a target for therapeutic uses.
Citation: “The dynamic N1-methyladenosine methylome in eukaryotic messenger RNA,” Nature, Feb. 10, 2016, by Chuan He, Dan Dominissini, Sigrid Nachtergaele, Qing Dai, Dali Han, Wesley Clark, Guanqun Zheng, Tao Pan and Louis Dore from the University of Chicago, and Sharon Moshitch-Moshkovitz, Eyal Peer, Nitkan Kol, Moshe Shay Ben-Haim, Ayelet Di Segni, Mali Salmon-Divon, Oz Solomon, Eran Eyal, Vera Hershkovitz, Ninette Amariglio and Gideon Rechavi from Tel Aviv University. DOI: 10.1038/nature16998
Funding: National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, Israel Science Foundation, Israeli Centers of Excellence Program, Ernest and Bonnie Beutler Research Program, Chicago Biomedical Consortium, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and Kahn Family Foundation.
– See more at: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2016/02/16/rna-modification-discovery-suggests-new-code-control-gene-expression#sthash.HX6wUgKW.dpuf
Topics
- M6A mRNA methylation
- Biological functions of m6A RNA methylation
- Dynamic RNA modifications
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