TY - JOUR
T1 - MIR retroposon exonization promotes evolutionary variability and generates species-specific expression of IGF-1 splice variants
AU - Annibalini, Giosuè
AU - Bielli, Pamela
AU - De Santi, Mauro
AU - Agostini, Deborah
AU - Guescini, Michele
AU - Sisti, Davide
AU - Contarelli, Serena
AU - Brandi, Giorgio
AU - Villarini, Anna
AU - Stocchi, Vilberto
AU - Sette, Claudio
AU - Barbieri, Elena
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) -1 is a pleiotropic hormone exerting mitogenic and anti-apoptotic effects. Inclusion or exclusion of exon 5 into the IGF-1 mRNA gives rise to three transcripts, IGF-1Ea, IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec, which yield three different C-terminal extensions called Ea, Eb and Ec peptides. The biological significance of the IGF-1 splice variants and how the E-peptides affect the actions of mature IGF-1 are largely unknown. In this study we investigated the origin and conservation of the IGF-1 E-peptides and we compared the pattern of expression of the IGF-1 isoforms in vivo, in nine mammalian species, and in vitro using human and mouse IGF-1 minigenes. Our analysis showed that only IGF-1Ea is conserved among all vertebrates, whereas IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec are an evolutionary novelty originated from the exonization of a mammalian interspersed repetitive-b (MIR-b) element. Both IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec mRNAs were constitutively expressed in all mammalian species analyzed but their expression ratio varies greatly among species. Using IGF-1 minigenes we demonstrated that divergence in cis-acting regulatory elements between human and mouse conferred species-specific features to the exon 5 region. Finally, the protein-coding sequences of exon 5 showed low rate of synonymous mutations and contain disorder-promoting amino acids, suggesting a regulatory role for these domains. In conclusion, exonization of a MIR-b element in the IGF-1 gene determined gain of exon 5 during mammalian evolution. Alternative splicing of this novel exon added new regulatory elements at the mRNA and protein level potentially able to regulate the mature IGF-1 across tissues and species.
AB - Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) -1 is a pleiotropic hormone exerting mitogenic and anti-apoptotic effects. Inclusion or exclusion of exon 5 into the IGF-1 mRNA gives rise to three transcripts, IGF-1Ea, IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec, which yield three different C-terminal extensions called Ea, Eb and Ec peptides. The biological significance of the IGF-1 splice variants and how the E-peptides affect the actions of mature IGF-1 are largely unknown. In this study we investigated the origin and conservation of the IGF-1 E-peptides and we compared the pattern of expression of the IGF-1 isoforms in vivo, in nine mammalian species, and in vitro using human and mouse IGF-1 minigenes. Our analysis showed that only IGF-1Ea is conserved among all vertebrates, whereas IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec are an evolutionary novelty originated from the exonization of a mammalian interspersed repetitive-b (MIR-b) element. Both IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec mRNAs were constitutively expressed in all mammalian species analyzed but their expression ratio varies greatly among species. Using IGF-1 minigenes we demonstrated that divergence in cis-acting regulatory elements between human and mouse conferred species-specific features to the exon 5 region. Finally, the protein-coding sequences of exon 5 showed low rate of synonymous mutations and contain disorder-promoting amino acids, suggesting a regulatory role for these domains. In conclusion, exonization of a MIR-b element in the IGF-1 gene determined gain of exon 5 during mammalian evolution. Alternative splicing of this novel exon added new regulatory elements at the mRNA and protein level potentially able to regulate the mature IGF-1 across tissues and species.
KW - Alternative splicing
KW - IGF-1 isoforms
KW - Intrinsically disordered regions
KW - Retroposon exonization
KW - Synonymous sites
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2016.03.014
DO - 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2016.03.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 27048986
AN - SCOPUS:84963594901
VL - 1859
SP - 757
EP - 768
JO - Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms
JF - Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms
SN - 1874-9399
IS - 5
ER -