Multiple pseudouridine synthases (PUS) are implicated in human disease, but the mechanisms that connect loss of PUS activity to mitochondrial myopathy, digestive disorders, intellectual disability, resistance to viral infection, dyskeratosis congenita, and diverse cancers remain largely unknown. There are several critical gaps in our current knowledge of the functions of PUS proteins. Although the basic biochemical activity of PUS proteins in catalyzing the isomerization of uridine to pseudouridine is well understood, the specific RNA targets of most human PUS proteins are unknown or incompletely known. Our long-term goals include identifying the targets of all PUS proteins and determining the molecular consequences of modification of specific RNAs with pseudouridine in disease-relevant cellular contexts. This will be critical for understanding the etiology of diseases caused by PUS deficiency and may reveal new therapeutic targets for treatment. Our previous studies revealed that pseudouridine is a prevalent modification of nascent pre-messenger RNA. These results, together with quantitative in vitro studies showing that pseudouridine can affect both RNA-protein and RNA-RNA interactions, lead to our central hypothesis that pre-mRNA pseudouridylation controls human gene expression at the level of pre-mRNA splicing. In support of this hypothesis, we have demonstrated that loss of one pre- mRNA modifying pseudouridine synthase, PUS1, causes widespread changes to pre-mRNA splicing in human cells, with more than 3,000 PUS1-sensitive alternative splicing events identified.
Our Specific Aims are to (1) Define the splicing-relevant pre-mRNA targets of the predominant pre-mRNA pseudouridylating enzymes: PUS1, PUS7, and RPUSD4; and (2) Elucidate the molecular mechanisms of pseudouridine-sensitive splicing. The proposed work will provide key insight into the molecular functions of pseudouridines in pre-mRNAs and may reveal novel modes of eukaryotic gene regulation. By establishing pre-mRNAs as a broad new class of substrates for PUS enzymes, our work implicates defective splicing as a plausible but understudied mechanism connecting loss of PUS activity to numerous human diseases.

Public Health Relevance

Correct gene expression is fundamental to all aspects of healthy biology. This proposal seeks a better understanding of the functions of the RNA modification pseudouridine, which has significant but poorly understood effects on human gene expression. This research will have the potential to reveal new therapeutic targets to treat diseases caused by mutations in the enzymes that modify RNAs with pseudouridine.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01GM101316-05
Application #
9660927
Study Section
Molecular Genetics A Study Section (MGA)
Program Officer
Brown, Anissa F
Project Start
2014-09-01
Project End
2023-06-30
Budget Start
2019-07-01
Budget End
2020-06-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Yale University
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
043207562
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
06520
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Gilbert, Wendy V; Bell, Tristan A; Schaening, Cassandra (2016) Messenger RNA modifications: Form, distribution, and function. Science 352:1408-12
Stanley, Susan E; Gable, Dustin L; Wagner, Christa L et al. (2016) Loss-of-function mutations in the RNA biogenesis factor NAF1 predispose to pulmonary fibrosis-emphysema. Sci Transl Med 8:351ra107
Gould, Genevieve M; Paggi, Joseph M; Guo, Yuchun et al. (2016) Identification of new branch points and unconventional introns in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RNA 22:1522-34
Carlile, Thomas M; Rojas-Duran, Maria F; Gilbert, Wendy V (2015) Transcriptome-Wide Identification of Pseudouridine Modifications Using Pseudo-seq. Curr Protoc Mol Biol 112:4.25.1-24
Carlile, Thomas M; Rojas-Duran, Maria F; Gilbert, Wendy V (2015) Pseudo-Seq: Genome-Wide Detection of Pseudouridine Modifications in RNA. Methods Enzymol 560:219-45
Carlile, Thomas M; Rojas-Duran, Maria F; Zinshteyn, Boris et al. (2014) Pseudouridine profiling reveals regulated mRNA pseudouridylation in yeast and human cells. Nature 515:143-6