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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
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Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: October 9, 2014
The functional modulation of epigenetic regulators by alternative splicing
Sergio Lois1, Noemí Blanco, Marian Martínez-Balbás
1Instituto de Biología Molecular de Barcelona, CID, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Barcelona, Spain. sergi@mmb.pcb.ub.es <sergi@mmb.pcb.ub.es>
BMC Genomics
|July 27, 2007
Summary
Alternative splicing significantly impacts epigenetic regulators, modulating their function and creating new roles. This suggests that alternative splicing plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression itself.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Epigenetics
- Genomics
Background:
- Epigenetic regulators control gene expression by modifying chromatin.
- Their own regulation, particularly via alternative splicing, remains largely unexplored.
- Alternative splicing is known to regulate other protein families like transcription factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of alternative splicing in the regulation of epigenetic regulators.
- To understand how alternative splicing affects the function and diversity of epigenetic enzymes.
Main Methods:
- Compiled data on alternative splicing for 160 epigenetic regulators from public databases.
- Analyzed alternative splicing patterns, focusing on changes affecting enzyme domain composition.
Main Results:
- 49% of epigenetic regulator genes (70% in humans) express multiple transcripts.
- Alternative splicing events alter enzyme domain composition, leading to functional repression or novel functions.
- Identified mechanisms like dominant-negative inhibitors and creation of new functional isoforms.
Conclusions:
- Alternative splicing is a key mechanism for modulating epigenetic regulator function.
- Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is significantly influenced by alternative splicing.
- This highlights a complex regulatory network where splicing impacts chromatin modification and gene transcription.
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02:18Alternative RNA Splicing
Alternative RNA splicing is the regulated splicing of exons and introns to produce different mature mRNAs from a single pre-mRNA. Unlike in constitutive splicing where a single gene produces a single type of mRNA, alternative splicing allows an organism to produce multiple proteins from a single gene and plays an important role in protein diversity.
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
02:18Alternative RNA Splicing
Alternative RNA splicing is the regulated splicing of exons and introns to produce different mature mRNAs from a single pre-mRNA. Unlike in constitutive splicing where a single gene produces a single type of mRNA, alternative splicing allows an organism to produce multiple proteins from a single gene and plays an important role in protein diversity.
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
02:41Chromatin Structure Regulates pre-mRNA Processing
In eukaryotic cells, nascent mRNA transcripts need to undergo many post-transcriptional modifications to reach the cell cytoplasm and translate into functional proteins. For a long time, transcription and pre-mRNA processing were considered two independent events that occur sequentially in the cell. However, it has now been well established that transcription and pre-mRNA processing are two simultaneous processes that are precisely regulated inside the cell.
The chromatin structure, especially...
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01:36What is Gene Expression?
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01:42What is Gene Expression?
Overview
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
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Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
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01:32RNA Splicing
Splicing is the process by which eukaryotic RNA is edited before its translation into protein. The RNA strand transcribed from eukaryotic DNA is called the primary transcript. The primary transcripts that become mRNAs are called precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA contains alternating sequences of exons and introns. Exons are nucleotide sequences that code for proteins, whereas introns are the non-coding regions. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are bonded...