CRISPR/Cas9-mediated modulation of splicing efficiency reveals short splicing isoform of Xist RNA is sufficient to induce X-chromosome inactivation
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Alternative splicing of mRNA precursors results in multiple protein variants from a single gene and is critical for diverse cellular processes and development. Xist encodes a long noncoding RNA which is a central player to induce X-chromosome inactivation in female mammals and has two major splicing variants: long and short isoforms of Xist RNA. Although a differentiation-specific and a female-specific expression of Xist isoforms have been reported, the functional role of each Xist RNA isoform is largely unexplored. Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted modification of the 5' splice site in Xist intron 7, we create mutant female ES cell lines which dominantly express the long- or short-splicing isoform of Xist RNA from the inactive X-chromosome (Xi) upon differentiation. Successful execution of CRISPR/Cas-based splicing modulation indicates that our CRISPR/Cas-based targeted modification of splicing sites is a useful approach to study specific isoforms of a transcript generated by alternative splicing. Upon differentiation of splicing-mutant Xist female ES cells, we find that both long and short Xist isoforms can induce X-chromosome inactivation normally during ES cell differentiation, suggesting that the short splicing isoform of Xist RNA is sufficient to induce X-chromosome inactivation.
Source: Nucleic Acids Research
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx1227
Authors: Minghui Yue, Yuya Ogawa
Language: English
Topic: RNA Research and Splicing
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,992
OpenAlex ID: W2771551487