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Related Concept Videos

Alternative RNA Splicing02:18

Alternative RNA Splicing

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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...
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RNA Splicing01:32

RNA Splicing

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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...
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Apoptosis01:30

Apoptosis

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Apoptosis is a combination of two Greek words, 'apo' and 'ptosis,' meaning separation and falling off, respectively. Hippocrates used this word to describe gangrene, which was caused due to bandaging of fractured bones. Apoptosis was distinguished from necrosis in 1970 when John Kerr reported observations of morphological changes occurring during apoptosis. During one experiment, he observed that the disruption of blood supply to the liver tissue resulted in a size...
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The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway01:17

The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

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The extrinsic apoptotic pathway is initiated when extracellular death-inducing signals, such as specific cytokines, activate the death receptors expressed on the cell surface. The immune cells involved in this pathway are natural killer cells (NK cells) and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. NK cells are critical in innate immune response, while cytotoxic T-lymphocytes are associated with adaptive immune response. These cells recognize specific receptors expressed on the altered cells and activate...
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Caspases01:24

Caspases

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Caspase, a family of cysteine proteases, serve as effectors in apoptosis. The ced3 gene in C.elegans was first identified to be involved in apoptosis. This gene encodes the ced-3 caspase that is similar to the interleukin-1-beta converting enzyme or ICE in mammals. In addition to apoptosis, caspases also function in the inflammatory response. Inflammatory caspases are essential in activating pro-inflammatory cytokines that recruit immune cells and block the replication of pathogens inside...
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What is Gene Expression?01:36

What is Gene Expression?

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A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is comprised  of nucleotides and proteins are comprised of amino acids, a mediator is required to convert the information encoded in DNA into proteins. This mediator is the messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA copies the blueprint from DNA by a process called transcription. In eukaryotes, transcription occurs in the nucleus by complementary base-pairing with the DNA template. The mRNA is then...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 9, 2025

Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
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Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

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Alternative splicing drives a dynamic transcriptomic response during Acanthamoeba castellanii programmed cell death.

Jesús Gómez-Montalvo1, Zisis Koutsogiannis2, Sutherland K Maciver2

  • 1Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, 64849, Monterrey, N.L, Mexico.

Microbial Cell (Graz, Austria)
|September 4, 2025
PubMed
Summary

Programmed cell death (PCD) in Acanthamoeba castellanii involves widespread gene expression changes and significant alternative splicing, particularly intron retention. This study reveals a novel positional shift in retained introns during PCD, suggesting a new regulatory mechanism.

Keywords:
Acanthamoeba castellaniialternative splicingintron retentionprogrammed cell deathtranscriptomics

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Engineering Artificial Factors to Specifically Manipulate Alternative Splicing in Human Cells
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Quantitative Analysis of Alternative Pre-mRNA Splicing in Mouse Brain Sections Using RNA In Situ Hybridization Assay
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Quantitative Analysis of Alternative Pre-mRNA Splicing in Mouse Brain Sections Using RNA In Situ Hybridization Assay

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Quantitative Analysis of Alternative Pre-mRNA Splicing in Mouse Brain Sections Using RNA In Situ Hybridization Assay
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Quantitative Analysis of Alternative Pre-mRNA Splicing in Mouse Brain Sections Using RNA In Situ Hybridization Assay

Published on: August 26, 2018

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Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Programmed cell death (PCD) is crucial for multicellular organisms but less understood in unicellular eukaryotes.
  • Acanthamoeba castellanii, a facultative human pathogen, offers a model for studying PCD in unicellular organisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the transcriptomic and alternative splicing (AS) responses of Acanthamoeba castellanii during G418-induced PCD.
  • To elucidate the role of AS, specifically intron retention (IR), in regulating PCD in this amoeba.

Main Methods:

  • RNA sequencing was employed to analyze global gene expression changes over six hours of G418 treatment.
  • Differential splicing events were identified and characterized, with a focus on intron retention patterns.
  • Correlational analyses were performed to link IR with transcript levels.

Main Results:

  • Approximately 70% of annotated genes showed transcriptional changes during PCD.
  • 18,748 differentially spliced events were detected, with intron retention being the predominant type.
  • A shift in retained intron distribution from 3' bias to uniform was observed during PCD, negatively correlating with transcript levels.

Conclusions:

  • Alternative splicing, especially intron retention, plays a significant regulatory role in Acanthamoeba castellanii PCD.
  • The dynamic positional shift of retained introns suggests a novel mechanism controlling gene expression during PCD.
  • Findings enhance understanding of PCD in unicellular organisms and may reveal therapeutic targets related to Acanthamoeba infections.