Language
English
Publication Date
6-6-2024
Journal
Molecular Cell
DOI
10.1016/j.molcel.2024.05.004
PMID
38815579
PMCID
PMC11204102
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
6-6-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Abstract
RNA splicing is pivotal in post-transcriptional gene regulation, yet the exponential expansion of intron length in humans poses a challenge for accurate splicing. Here, we identify hnRNPM as an essential RNA-binding protein that suppresses cryptic splicing through binding to deep introns, maintaining human transcriptome integrity. Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) in introns harbor numerous pseudo splice sites. hnRNPM preferentially binds at intronic LINEs to repress pseudo splice site usage for cryptic splicing. Remarkably, cryptic exons can generate long dsRNAs through base-pairing of inverted ALU transposable elements interspersed among LINEs and consequently trigger an interferon response, a well-known antiviral defense mechanism. Significantly, hnRNPM-deficient tumors show upregulated interferon-associated pathways and elevated immune cell infiltration. These findings unveil hnRNPM as a guardian of transcriptome integrity by repressing cryptic splicing and suggest that targeting hnRNPM in tumors may be used to trigger an inflammatory immune response, thereby boosting cancer surveillance.
Keywords
Humans, Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group M, RNA, Double-Stranded, Introns, RNA Splicing, Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements, Interferons, Animals, HEK293 Cells, Mice, Transcriptome, Exons, RNA Splice Sites, Alu Elements, Cryptic splicing, hnRNPM, RNA binding protein, LINE, ALU, double-stranded RNA, interferon response, cancer
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Zheng, Rong; Dunlap, Mikayla; Bobkov, Georg O M; et al., "hnRNPM Protects Against the dsRNA-Mediated Interferon Response by Repressing Line-Associated Cryptic Splicing" (2024). Faculty and Staff Publications. 3850.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/3850