Phylogenetic Comparison and Splicing Analysis of the U1 snRNP-specific Protein U1C in Eukaryotes

Kai-Lu Zhang; Jian-Li Zhou; Jing-Fang Yang; Yu-Zhen Zhao; Debatosh Das; Ge-Fei Hao; Caie Wu; Jianhua Zhang; Fu-Yuan Zhu; Mo-Xian Chen; Shao-Ming Zhou

doi:10.3389/fmolb.2021.696319

Phylogenetic Comparison and Splicing Analysis of the U1 snRNP-specific Protein U1C in Eukaryotes

Front Mol Biosci. 2021 Sep 9:8:696319. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.696319. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Kai-Lu Zhang^{1

2

3}, Jian-Li Zhou¹, Jing-Fang Yang⁴, Yu-Zhen Zhao¹, Debatosh Das⁵, Ge-Fei Hao⁴, Caie Wu⁶, Jianhua Zhang⁵, Fu-Yuan Zhu², Mo-Xian Chen², Shao-Ming Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Gastroenterology, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
² Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
⁵ Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China.
⁶ College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Jiangsu, China.

Abstract

As a pivotal regulator of 5' splice site recognition, U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (U1 snRNP)-specific protein C (U1C) regulates pre-mRNA splicing by interacting with other components of the U1 snRNP complex. Previous studies have shown that U1 snRNP and its components are linked to a variety of diseases, including cancer. However, the phylogenetic relationships and expression profiles of U1C have not been studied systematically. To this end, we identified a total of 110 animal U1C genes and compared them to homologues from yeast and plants. Bioinformatics analysis shows that the structure and function of U1C proteins is relatively conserved and is found in multiple copies in a few members of the U1C gene family. Furthermore, the expression patterns reveal that U1Cs have potential roles in cancer progression and human development. In summary, our study presents a comprehensive overview of the animal U1C gene family, which can provide fundamental data and potential cues for further research in deciphering the molecular function of this splicing regulator.

Keywords: U1-snRNP; alternative splicing; gene expression; phylogenetics; splice site.