Cited by 212RNA Research and SplicingNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchRNA regulation and disease

Neuronal Elav-like (Hu) proteins regulate RNA splicing and abundance to control glutamate levels and neuronal excitability

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Ince-Dunn, Gulayse, Okano, Hirotaka J., Jensen, Kirk B., Park, Woong-Yang, Zhong, Ru, Ule, Jernej, Mele, Aldo, Fak, John J. +7 more·2012·Neuron

Abstract

The paraneoplastic neurologic disorders target several families of neuron-specific RNA binding proteins (RNABPs), revealing that there are unique aspects of gene expression regulation in the mammalian brain. Here, we used HITS-CLIP to determine robust binding sites targeted by the neuronal Elav-like (nElavl) RNABPs. Surprisingly, nElav protein binds preferentially to GU-rich sequences in vivo and in vitro, with secondary binding to AU-rich sequences. nElavl null mice were used to validate the consequence of these binding events in the brain, demonstrating that they bind intronic sequences in a position dependent manner to regulate alternative splicing and to 3'UTR sequences to regulate mRNA levels. These controls converge on the glutamate synthesis pathway in neurons; nElavl proteins are required to maintain neurotransmitter glutamate levels, and the lack of nElavl leads to spontaneous epileptic seizure activity. The genome-wide analysis of nElavl targets reveals that one function of neuron-specific RNABPs is to control excitation-inhibition balance in the brain.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.07.009

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  • ELAVL4 regulates glutamate levels and neuronal excitability.

    “glutamate levels, and neuronal excitability (Ince-Dunn et al., 2012; Jung and Lee, 2021)”

    From ELAVL4, splicing, and glutamatergic dysfunction precede neuron loss in MAPT mutation cerebral organoids (2021) · cites this paper as Ince-Dunn et al., 2012

    The Results section, “A new role for nElavl in regulating glutamate in the brain” (page not provided), reports reduced glutamate in mice lacking both Elavl3 and Elavl4. The Results section, “Seizures in Elavl3-/- Mice” (page not provided), links abnormal cortical activity to loss of Elavl3. These findings support a role for the neuronal Elav-like proteins collectively, but do not establish that ELAVL4 alone regulates both glutamate levels and neuronal excitability. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • nELAVs preferentially bind introns surrounding cassette exons, especially near exon/intron splice junctions.

    “The same report also used genome wide analysis to map the binding sites in nELAV targeted pre-mRNAs and revealed that these proteins preferentially bind introns surrounding cassette exons, especially near exon/intron splice junctions (Ince-Dunn et al. 2012).”
  • nELAVs generate a longer Gls mRNA variant, indicating that they may enhance inclusion of a Gls 3′ exon(s).

    “In addition, a recent report identified intronic nELAV binding sites flanking an alternative 3′ SS in the Gls1/Gls gene and demonstrated that nELAVs generate a longer Gls mRNA variant, indicating that they may enhance inclusion of a Gls 3′ exon(s) (Ince-Dunn et al. 2012).”
  • nELAVs enhance exon inclusion when bound to 5′ splice sites in the downstream intron and inhibit exon inclusion when bound to adjacent 3′ and 5′ splice sites of alternative exons.

    “In line with previous studies, nELAVs were found to enhance exon inclusion when bound to 5′ SSs in the downstream intron and inhibit exon inclusion when bound to adjacent 3′ and 5′ SSs of alternative exons.”
  • FMRP is a seminal example of an ASD-associated RNA-binding protein; other ASD-associated RBPs include CELF4, ELAVL3, and GIGYF1.

    “A seminal example is the Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) (Darnell et al., 2011), and other RBPs that are associated with ASD include CELF4 (Wagnon et al., 2012), ELAVL3 (Ince-Dunn et al., 2012) and GIGYF1 (Peter et al., 2017).”

    From Getting to the cores of autism (2019) · cites this paper as Ince-Dunn et al., 2012

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Authors
Ince-Dunn, G., Okano, H. J., Jensen, K. B., Park, W.-Y., Zhong, R., Ule, J., Mele, A., Fak, J. J., Yang, C., Zhang, C., Yoo, J., Herre, M., Okano, H., Noebels, J. L., & Darnell, R. B.
Affiliations
  • Rockefeller University (US)
  • Keio University (JP)
  • Baylor College of Medicine (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Darnell, Robert B.
Venue
Neuron
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-09
Volume
75
Issue
6
Pages
1067-1080
ISSN
0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2086474057
Cited by
212
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 13
FWCI
6.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuron (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Wellcome Trust (089701)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (K99 GM95713, K99GM095713, R00GM095713)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS081706, NS34389, R01NS034389, R56NS034389, NS29709, R01NS029709)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024143)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD 24064, P30HD024064)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA regulation and disease
Keywords
HU protein, RNA-binding proteins, alternative splicing, 3' UTR regulation, glutamate synthesis, neuronal excitability, AU-rich elements, excitation-inhibition balance, spontaneous seizures, HITS-CLIP
MeSH terms
Animals, Animals, Newborn, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Electroencephalography, Epilepsy, Gene Expression Regulation, Glutaminase, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neurons, RNA Splicing, RNA, Messenger, RNA-Binding Proteins, Mice, Knockout, Glutamic Acid, Computational Biology, 3' Untranslated Regions, Microarray Analysis, Mice, ELAV Proteins

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