DNA-Encoded Chromatin Structural Intron Boundary Signals Identify Conserved Genes with Common Function

الملخص EN

The regulation of metazoan gene expression occurs in part by pre-mRNA splicing into mature RNAs.

Signals affecting the efficiency and specificity with which introns are removed have not been completely elucidated.

Splicing likely occurs cotranscriptionally, with chromatin structure playing a key regulatory role.

We calculated DNA encoded nucleosome occupancy likelihood (NOL) scores at the boundaries between introns and exons across five metazoan species.

We found that (i) NOL scores reveal a sequence-based feature at the introns on both sides of the intron-exon boundary; (ii) this feature is not part of any recognizable consensus sequence; (iii) this feature is conserved throughout metazoa; (iv) this feature is enriched in genes sharing similar functions: ATPase activity, ATP binding, helicase activity, and motor activity; (v) genes with these functions exhibit different genomic characteristics; (vi) in vivo nucleosome positioning data confirm ontological enrichment at this feature; and (vii) genes with this feature exhibit unique dinucleotide distributions at the intron-exon boundary.

The NOL scores point toward a physical property of DNA that may play a role in the mechanism of pre-mRNA splicing.

These results provide a foundation for identification of a new set of regulatory DNA elements involved in splicing regulation.