Kumarasinghe N, Moss WN. Analysis of a structured intronic region of the LMP2 pre-mRNA from EBV reveals associations with human regulatory proteins and nuclear actin.
BMC Res Notes 2019;
12:33. [PMID:
30658689 PMCID:
PMC6339298 DOI:
10.1186/s13104-019-4070-1]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective
The pre-mRNA of the Epstein–Barr virus LMP2 (latent membrane protein 2) has a region of unusual RNA structure that partially spans two consecutive exons and the entire intervening intron; suggesting RNA folding might affect splicing—particularly via interactions with human regulatory proteins. To better understand the roles of protein associations with this structured intronic region, we undertook a combined bioinformatics (motif searching) and experimental analysis (biotin pulldowns and RNA immunoprecipitations) of protein binding.
Result
Characterization of the ribonucleoprotein composition of this region revealed several human proteins as interactors: regulatory proteins hnRNP A1 (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1), hnRNP U, HuR (human antigen R), and PSF (polypyrimidine tract-binding protein-associated splicing factor), as well as, unexpectedly, the cytoskeletal protein actin. Treatment of EBV-positive cells with drugs that alter actin polymerization specifically showed marked effects on splicing in this region. This suggests a potentially novel role for nuclear actin in regulation of viral RNA splicing.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-019-4070-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse