Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-12-14
pubmed:abstractText
Splicing mutations that lead to devastating genetic diseases are often located in nonconserved or weakly conserved sequences that normally do not affect splicing. Thus, the underlying reason for the splicing defect is not immediately obvious. An example of this phenomenon is observed in the neurodevelopmental disease familial dysautonomia (FD), which is caused by a single-base change in the 5' splice site (5'ss) of intron 20 in the IKBKAP gene (c.2204+6T>C). This mutation, which is in the sixth position of the intron and results in exon 20 skipping, has no phenotype in many other introns. To determine why the position 6 mutation causes aberrant splicing only in certain cases, we first used an in silico approach to identify potential sequences involved in exon 20 skipping. Computational analyses of the exon 20 5'ss itself predicted that this nine-nucleotide splicing signal, even when it contains the T>C mutation, is not sufficiently weak to explain the FD phenotype. However, the computational analysis predicted that both the upstream 3' splice site (3'ss) and exon 20 contain weak splicing signals, indicating that the FD 5'ss, together with the surrounding splicing signals, are not adequate for defining exon 20. These in silico predictions were corroborated using IKBKAP minigenes in a new rapid and simple in vitro coupled RNA polymerase (RNAP) II transcription/splicing assay. Finally, the weak splicing signals that flank the T>C mutation were validated as the underlying cause of familial dysautonomia in vivo using transient transfection assays. Together, our study demonstrates the general utility of combining in silico data with an in vitro RNAP II transcription/splicing system for rapidly identifying critical sequences that underlie the numerous splicing diseases caused by otherwise silent mutations.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1098-1004
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
(c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
28
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
41-53
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-9-5
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2007
pubmed:articleTitle
Weak definition of IKBKAP exon 20 leads to aberrant splicing in familial dysautonomia.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't