title: Widespread generation of alternative UTRs contributes to sex-specific RNA binding by UNR.
abstract: Upstream of N-ras (UNR) is a conserved RNA-binding protein that regulates mRNA translation and stability by binding to sites generally located in untranslated regions (UTRs). In Drosophila, sex-specific binding of UNR to msl2 mRNA and the noncoding RNA roX is believed to play key roles in the control of X-chromosome dosage compensation in both sexes. To investigate broader sex-specific functions of UNR, we have identified its RNA targets in adult male and female flies by high-throughput RNA binding and transcriptome analysis. Here we show that UNR binds to a large set of protein-coding transcripts and to a smaller set of noncoding RNAs in a sex-specific fashion. The analyses also reveal a strong correlation between sex-specific binding of UNR and sex-specific differential expression of UTRs in target genes. Validation experiments indicate that UNR indeed recognizes sex-specifically processed transcripts. These results suggest that UNR exploits the transcript diversity generated by alternative processing and alternative promoter usage to bind and regulate target genes in a sex-specific manner.
authors.affiliation: Gene Regulation Programme, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and UPF, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mihailovic
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mihailovich
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wurth
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zambelli
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abaza
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Militti
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roma
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pavesi
authors.forename: Fátima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gebauer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D020506:Untranslated Regions
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; C509278:UNR protein, Drosophila; D020506:Untranslated Regions; C094166:msl-2 protein, Drosophila
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