Publication Date
2-17-2023
Journal
Science Advances
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.ade4814
PMID
36800428
PMCID
PMC9937581
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
2-17-2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Animals, Humans, Infant, Newborn, 3' Untranslated Regions, Exons, Introns, Polyadenylation, Zebrafish, Embryo, Nonmammalian
Abstract
Alternative polyadenylation (APA) creates distinct transcripts from the same gene by cleaving the pre-mRNA at poly(A) sites that can lie within the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR), introns, or exons. Most studies focus on APA within the 3'UTR; however, here, we show that CPSF6 insufficiency alters protein levels and causes a developmental syndrome by deregulating APA throughout the transcript. In neonatal humans and zebrafish larvae, CPSF6 insufficiency shifts poly(A) site usage between the 3'UTR and internal sites in a pathway-specific manner. Genes associated with neuronal function undergo mostly intronic APA, reducing their expression, while genes associated with heart and skeletal function mostly undergo 3'UTR APA and are up-regulated. This suggests that, under healthy conditions, cells toggle between internal and 3'UTR APA to modulate protein expression.
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