CRISPR/Cas9-mediated modulation of splicing efficiency reveals short splicing isoform of Xist RNA is sufficient to induce X-chromosome inactivation

Nucleic Acids Res. 2018 Mar 16;46(5):e26. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkx1227.

Abstract

Alternative splicing of mRNA precursors results in multiple protein variants from a single gene and is critical for diverse cellular processes and development. Xist encodes a long noncoding RNA which is a central player to induce X-chromosome inactivation in female mammals and has two major splicing variants: long and short isoforms of Xist RNA. Although a differentiation-specific and a female-specific expression of Xist isoforms have been reported, the functional role of each Xist RNA isoform is largely unexplored. Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted modification of the 5' splice site in Xist intron 7, we create mutant female ES cell lines which dominantly express the long- or short-splicing isoform of Xist RNA from the inactive X-chromosome (Xi) upon differentiation. Successful execution of CRISPR/Cas-based splicing modulation indicates that our CRISPR/Cas-based targeted modification of splicing sites is a useful approach to study specific isoforms of a transcript generated by alternative splicing. Upon differentiation of splicing-mutant Xist female ES cells, we find that both long and short Xist isoforms can induce X-chromosome inactivation normally during ES cell differentiation, suggesting that the short splicing isoform of Xist RNA is sufficient to induce X-chromosome inactivation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Cell Differentiation / genetics
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Exons / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, 129 Strain
  • Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells / cytology
  • Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • RNA Isoforms / genetics
  • RNA Splice Sites / genetics
  • RNA Splicing*
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics*
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • X Chromosome / genetics*
  • X Chromosome Inactivation / genetics*

Substances

  • RNA Isoforms
  • RNA Splice Sites
  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • XIST non-coding RNA