Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Using RNA-interference to Investigate the Innate Immune Response in Mouse Macrophages
12:47

Using RNA-interference to Investigate the Innate Immune Response in Mouse Macrophages

Published on: November 3, 2014

12.3K

Widespread Shortening of 3' Untranslated Regions and Increased Exon Inclusion Are Evolutionarily Conserved Features

Athma A Pai1, Golshid Baharian2,3, Ariane Pagé Sabourin3

  • 1Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Plos Genetics
|October 1, 2016
PubMed

Insights

mRNA processing significantly alters immune cell responses to bacterial infections. Key changes include increased gene diversity and shorter 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), potentially evading microRNA repression.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Pre-mRNA processing's role in immune response regulation is understudied.
  • Emerging evidence suggests RNA processing impacts immune defenses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate mRNA processing in human macrophages during bacterial infection.
  • Understand how RNA processing regulates cellular responses to Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella typhimurium.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized mRNA sequencing on primary macrophages from 60 individuals.
  • Quantified gene expression and isoform abundances before and after bacterial infection.
  • Analyzed microRNA levels and 3' UTR target sites.

Main Results:

  • Thousands of genes showed altered isoform usage post-infection, increasing diversity.
  • Global shifts observed towards cassette exon inclusion and shorter 3' UTRs.
  • Evolutionarily conserved changes in primates; identified RNA processing factors linked to isoform variation.

Conclusions:

  • Dynamic RNA processing changes, like shorter 3' UTRs, are crucial for innate immune regulation.
  • Shorter 3' UTRs may help genes evade microRNA-mediated repression during infection.
  • RNA processing is a key regulatory layer in the immune response to bacteria.

More Related Videos

In Silico Identification and Characterization of circRNAs During Host-Pathogen Interactions10:27

In Silico Identification and Characterization of circRNAs During Host-Pathogen Interactions

Published on: October 21, 2022

2.1K
Vasodilation of Isolated Vessels and the Isolation of the Extracellular Matrix of Tight-skin Mice08:09

Vasodilation of Isolated Vessels and the Isolation of the Extracellular Matrix of Tight-skin Mice

Published on: March 24, 2017

8.7K

Related Concept Videos

Exon Recombination02:32

Exon Recombination

The evolution of new genes is critical for speciation. Exon recombination, also known as exon shuffling or domain shuffling, is an important means of new gene formation. It is observed across vertebrates, invertebrates, and in some plants such as potatoes and sunflowers. During exon recombination, exons from the same or different genes recombine and produce new exon-intron combinations, which might evolve into new genes. 
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
4.3K
Leaky Scanning02:28

Leaky Scanning

During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA.  Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R...
5.8K
Translational Regulation01:29

Translational Regulation

Translational regulation in prokaryotes ensures efficient protein synthesis by controlling ribosome access to mRNA. This regulation is mediated by secondary RNA structures, including translational riboswitches, RNA thermometers, and small RNAs (sRNAs), which respond to intracellular and environmental signals to modulate gene expression.Translational RiboswitchesRiboswitches in the leader region of mRNAs can regulate translation by altering the accessibility of the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence,...
754
Regulation of the Unfolded Protein Response01:31

Regulation of the Unfolded Protein Response

Inositol-requiring kinase one or IRE1 is the most conserved eukaryotic unfolded protein response (UPR) receptor. It is a type I transmembrane protein kinase receptor with a distinctive site-specific RNase activity. As the binding mechanics of the misfolded proteins with the N-terminal domain of IRE-1 are unclear, three binding models — direct, indirect, and allosteric -- are proposed for receptor activation. Nevertheless, it is known that once a misfolded protein associates with IRE1, it...
3.2K
RNA Splicing01:32

RNA 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...
61.1K
RNA Interference01:23

RNA Interference

RNA interference (RNAi) is a process in which a small non-coding RNA molecule blocks the post-transcriptional expression of a gene by binding to its messenger RNA (mRNA) and preventing the protein from being translated.
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
28.4K