TY - JOUR
T1 - Reprogramming of tau alternative splicing by spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing
T2 - Implications for tauopathies
AU - Rodriguez-Martin, Teresa
AU - Garcia-Blanco, Mariano A.
AU - Mansfield, S. Gary
AU - Grower, Andrew C.
AU - Hutton, Michael
AU - Yu, Qingming
AU - Zhou, Jianhua
AU - Anderten, Brian H.
AU - Gallo, Jean Marc
PY - 2005/10/25
Y1 - 2005/10/25
N2 - Frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the microtubule-associated protein, tau. Some FTDP-17 mutations affect exon 10 splicing. To correct aberrant exon 10 splicing while retaining endogenous transcriptional control, we evaluated the feasibility of using spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing (SMaRT) to reprogram tau mRNA. We designed a pre-trans-splicing molecule containing human tau exons 10 to 13 and a binding domain complementary to the 3′ end of tau intron 9. A minigene comprising tau exons 9, 10, and 11 and minimal flanking intronic sequences was used as a target. RT-PCR analysis of SH-SYSY cells or COS cells cotransfected with a minigene and a pre-trans-splicing molecule using primers to opposite sides of the predicted splice junction generated products containing exons 9 to 13. Sequencing of the chimeric products showed that an exact exon 9-exon 10 junction had been created, thus demonstrating that tau RNA can be reprogrammed by trans-splicing. Furthermore, by using the same paradigm with a minigene containing full-length intronic sequences, we show that cis-splicing exclusion of exon 10 can be by-passed by trans-splicing and that conversion of exon 10- tau RNA into exon 10+ tau RNA could be achieved with ≈34% efficiency. Our results demonstrate that an alternatively spliced exon can be replaced by trans-splicing and open the way to novel therapeutic applications of SMaRT for tauopathies and other disorders linked to aberrant alternative splicing.
AB - Frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the microtubule-associated protein, tau. Some FTDP-17 mutations affect exon 10 splicing. To correct aberrant exon 10 splicing while retaining endogenous transcriptional control, we evaluated the feasibility of using spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing (SMaRT) to reprogram tau mRNA. We designed a pre-trans-splicing molecule containing human tau exons 10 to 13 and a binding domain complementary to the 3′ end of tau intron 9. A minigene comprising tau exons 9, 10, and 11 and minimal flanking intronic sequences was used as a target. RT-PCR analysis of SH-SYSY cells or COS cells cotransfected with a minigene and a pre-trans-splicing molecule using primers to opposite sides of the predicted splice junction generated products containing exons 9 to 13. Sequencing of the chimeric products showed that an exact exon 9-exon 10 junction had been created, thus demonstrating that tau RNA can be reprogrammed by trans-splicing. Furthermore, by using the same paradigm with a minigene containing full-length intronic sequences, we show that cis-splicing exclusion of exon 10 can be by-passed by trans-splicing and that conversion of exon 10- tau RNA into exon 10+ tau RNA could be achieved with ≈34% efficiency. Our results demonstrate that an alternatively spliced exon can be replaced by trans-splicing and open the way to novel therapeutic applications of SMaRT for tauopathies and other disorders linked to aberrant alternative splicing.
KW - Cytoskeleton
KW - Dementia
KW - Neurodegeneration
KW - RNA therapy
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0503150102
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0503150102
M3 - Article
C2 - 16230627
AN - SCOPUS:27344453374
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 102
SP - 15659
EP - 15664
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 43
ER -