Cited by 749RNA Research and SplicingRNA regulation and diseaseGenetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 113 of the 117 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 47 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

A Highly Conserved Program of Neuronal Microexons Is Misregulated in Autistic Brains

Open access

Abstract

Summary Alternative splicing (AS) generates vast transcriptomic and proteomic complexity. However, which of the myriad of detected AS events provide important biological functions is not well understood. Here, we define the largest program of functionally coordinated, neural-regulated AS described to date in mammals. Relative to all other types of AS within this program, 3-15 nucleotide ‘microexons’ display the most striking evolutionary conservation and switch-like regulation. These microexons modulate the function of interaction domains of proteins involved in neurogenesis. Most neural microexons are regulated by the neuronal-specific splicing factor nSR100/SRRM4, through its binding to adjacent intronic enhancer motifs. Neural microexons are frequently misregulated in the brains of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, and this misregulation is associated with reduced levels of nSR100. The results thus reveal a highly conserved program of dynamic microexon regulation associated with the remodeling of protein interaction networks during neurogenesis, the misregulation of which is linked to autism.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This paper defines a large neural-regulated alternative splicing program in mammals, showing that 3–27 nucleotide microexons are exceptionally conserved, dynamically regulated during neuronal differentiation, and often controlled by nSR100/SRRM4. It further reports that microexons are frequently misregulated in autistic brains and that this misregulation correlates with reduced nSR100 expression.

Key findings

  • Across human and mouse cell/tissue datasets, the authors identified about 2,500 neural-regulated AS events per species; microexons showed stronger neural-specific inclusion than longer exons (60.7% of microexons with ΔPSI>15 versus 9.5% of longer exons).
  • Of 308 human neural-regulated microexons, 225 (73.5%) were also neural-differentially spliced in mouse, compared with 527 of 1,390 (37.9%) longer neural-regulated exons; many microexons were deeply conserved across vertebrates.
  • During mouse ES-cell-to-cortical-neuron differentiation, 151 of 219 profiled neural-regulated microexons (69%) showed a PSI switch ≥50, and 65 (30%) showed a switch ≥90; nSR100 knockdown/overexpression affected more than half of profiled microexons.
  • In ASD post-mortem superior temporal gyrus samples, 126 of 504 detected microexons (30%) had mean ΔPSI>10 between ASD and control, versus 825 of 15,405 longer exons (5.4%); nSR100 mRNA was downregulated on average by about 10% in ASD samples (p=0.014).

Methods

  • The authors developed an RNA-Seq analysis pipeline to detect all AS classes, including microexons, and applied it to deep datasets from more than 50 human and mouse cell/tissue types, developmental stages, and several vertebrate species.
  • They analyzed microexon regulation across six time points of mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation into cortical glutamatergic neurons, and used knockdown/overexpression plus PAR-iCLIP data to test nSR100/SRRM4 regulation.
  • Protein interaction effects were tested with LUMIER assays and co-immunoprecipitation-western blotting for Apbb1 and AP1S2 microexons; ASD analyses used 24 autistic individuals and 24 matched controls, with 12 ASD samples showing the strongest ASD-associated expression signature and 12 controls selected for downstream comparisons.

Limitations

  • The paper does not state a dedicated limitations section.
  • Evident from the text: the ASD splicing analysis focused on a selected subset of 12 ASD and 12 control samples stratified by a pre-existing ASD gene-expression signature, so findings may not generalize to all autistic individuals.
  • Evident from the text: the link between reduced nSR100 and microexon misregulation in ASD is correlational, and the authors do not establish causation; microexon detection also depends on a specialized pipeline and sufficient RNA-Seq read coverage.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2014.11.035

Cites

113 of 113 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 47 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 75 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 28
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 19
41 of 41
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Misregulation of alternative splicing frequently causes or contributes to human disease.

    “since the misregulation of AS frequently causes or contributes to human disease, there is a pressing need to systematically define the functions of splice variants in disease contexts.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Gene prediction algorithms, high-throughput RNA sequencing analysis methods, and RNA-Seq datasets generally lack the sensitivity and/or depth required to detect specific types of alternative splicing.

    “Gene prediction algorithms, high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis methods, and RNA-Seq datasets generally lack the sensitivity and/or depth required to detect specific types of AS.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    It is generally not known which disease-misregulated alternative splicing events cause or contribute to disease phenotypes.

    “As is the case with assessing the normal functions of AS, it is generally not known which disease-misregulated AS events cause or contribute to disease phenotypes.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Several genes with misregulated microexons have been linked to learning or intellectual disability.

    “Other genes with misregulated microexons have been linked to learning or intellectual disability (e.g. APBB1, TRAPPC9, RAB3GAP1)”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The ASD and control brain samples analyzed are representative of the broader ASD and control populations.

    “We analyzed 24 autistic individuals and 24 controls matched by age and gender.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    nSR100 mRNA expression levels reflect nSR100 protein activity or functional nSR100 levels.

    “nSR100 mRNA expression is, on average, significantly downregulated in the brains of the analyzed ASD versus control subjects”
6 of 6

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

  • ASD microexon misregulation rate is overstated

    Major

    The stated count is 126 of 504 microexons, which is 25%, not 30%. This overstates a rate used to describe the extent of ASD-associated misregulation.

    Reported 30 · recomputed 25

1 of 1

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Metadata

Authors
Irimia, M., Weatheritt, R. J., Ellis, J. D., Parikshak, N. N., Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis, T., Babor, M., Quesnel-Vallières, M., Tapial, J., Raj, B., O’Hanlon, D., Barrios-Rodiles, M., Sternberg, M. J. E., Cordes, S. P., Roth, F. P., Wrana, J. L., Geschwind, D. H., & Blencowe, B. J.
Affiliations
  • University of Toronto (CA)
  • MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (GB)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Centre for Genomic Regulation (ES)
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Mount Sinai Hospital (CA)
  • Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CA)
Corresponding author
  • Irimia, Manuel
  • Blencowe, Benjamin J.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-12
Volume
159
Issue
7
Pages
1511-1523
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2139480055
Cited by
693
References
117
Citations by year
2026: 59 · 2025: 63 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 62 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 56 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 4
FWCI
16.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01mh094714-04)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • National Institute of Mental Health (5R01MH094714, R01-MH094714, F30MH099886, R37MH060233)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (U01HG001715, R01HG003224, P50HG004233)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM008042)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA regulation and disease
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords
microexons, alternative splicing, autism spectrum disorder, SRRM4, neurogenesis, protein-protein interaction domains, evolutionary conservation, brain transcriptome
MeSH terms
Animals, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Humans, Models, Molecular, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neurons, Temporal Lobe, Alternative Splicing, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Mice, Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs, Neurogenesis

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