Depletion of cap-binding protein eIF4E dysregulates amino acid metabolic gene expression.

Protein synthesis is metabolically costly and must be tightly coordinated with changing cellular needs and nutrient availability. The cap-binding protein eIF4E makes the earliest contact between mRNAs and the translation machinery, offering a key regulatory nexus. We acutely depleted this essential protein and found surprisingly modest effects on cell growth and recovery of protein synthesis.

Dysregulation of amino acid metabolism upon rapid depletion of cap-binding protein eIF4E.

Protein synthesis is a crucial but metabolically costly biological process that must be tightly coordinated with cellular needs and nutrient availability. In response to environmental stress, translation initiation is modulated to control protein output while meeting new demands. The cap-binding protein eIF4E-the earliest contact between mRNAs and the translation machinery-serves as one point of control, but its contributions to mRNA-specific translation regulation remain poorly understood.

A genome-scale CRISPR interference guide library enables comprehensive phenotypic profiling in yeast.

Background: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated transcriptional interference (CRISPRi) enables programmable gene knock-down, yielding loss-of-function phenotypes for nearly any gene. Effective, inducible CRISPRi has been demonstrated in budding yeast, and genome-scale guide libraries enable systematic, genome-wide genetic analysis.

Results: We present a comprehensive yeast CRISPRi library, based on empirical design rules, containing 10 distinct guides for most genes.

Accurate design of translational output by a neural network model of ribosome distribution.

Synonymous codon choice can have dramatic effects on ribosome speed and protein expression. Ribosome profiling experiments have underscored that ribosomes do not move uniformly along mRNAs. Here, we have modeled this variation in translation elongation by using a feed-forward neural network to predict the ribosome density at each codon as a function of its sequence neighborhood.

Transcriptome-wide measurement of translation by ribosome profiling.

Translation is one of the fundamental processes of life. It comprises the assembly of polypeptides whose amino acid sequence corresponds to the codon sequence of an mRNA's ORF. Translation is performed by the ribosome; therefore, in order to understand translation and its regulation we must be able to determine the numbers and locations of ribosomes on mRNAs in vivo.

Regulation of alternative splicing by the circadian clock and food related cues.

Background: The circadian clock orchestrates daily rhythms in metabolism, physiology and behaviour that allow organisms to anticipate regular changes in their environment, increasing their adaptation. Such circadian phenotypes are underpinned by daily rhythms in gene expression. Little is known, however, about the contribution of post-transcriptional processes, particularly alternative splicing.

Expression proteomics of UPF1 knockdown in HeLa cells reveals autoregulation of hnRNP A2/B1 mediated by alternative splicing resulting in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

Background: In addition to acting as an RNA quality control pathway, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) plays roles in regulating normal gene expression. In particular, the extent to which alternative splicing is coupled to NMD and the roles of NMD in regulating uORF containing transcripts have been a matter of debate.

Results: In order to achieve a greater understanding of NMD regulated gene expression we used 2D-DiGE proteomics technology to examine the changes in protein expression induced in HeLa cells by UPF1 knockdown.

Alternative splicing resulting in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay: what is the meaning of nonsense?

Alternative splicing (AS) strongly affects gene expression by generating protein isoform diversity. However, up to one-third of human AS events create a premature termination codon that would cause the resulting mRNA to be degraded by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The extent to which such events represent functionally selected post-transcriptional gene control, as opposed to noise in the splicing process, has been a contentious issue.