The dynamic N1 -methyladenosine methylome in eukaryotic messenger RNA

Dan Dominissini, Sigrid Nachtergaele, Sharon Moshitch-Moshkovitz, Eyal Peer, Nitzan Kol, Moshe Shay Ben-Haim, Qing Dai, Ayelet Di Segni, Mali Salmon-Divon, Wesley C. Clark, Guanqun Zheng, Tao Pan, Oz Solomon, Eran Eyal, Vera Hershkovitz, Dali Han, Louis C. Doré, Ninette Amariglio, Gideon Rechavi, Chuan He

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

622 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gene expression can be regulated post-transcriptionally through dynamic and reversible RNA modifications. A recent noteworthy example is N6 -methyladenosine (m6 A), which affects messenger RNA (mRNA) localization, stability, translation and splicing. Here we report on a new mRNA modification, N1-methyladenosine (m1 A), that occurs on thousands of different gene transcripts in eukaryotic cells, from yeast to mammals, at an estimated average transcript stoichiometry of 20% in humans. Employing newly developed sequencing approaches, we show that m1 A is enriched around the start codon upstream of the first splice site: it preferentially decorates more structured regions around canonical and alternative translation initiation sites, is dynamic in response to physiological conditions, and correlates positively with protein production. These unique features are highly conserved in mouse and human cells, strongly indicating a functional role for m1 A in promoting translation of methylated mRNA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)441-446
Number of pages6
JournalNature
Volume530
Issue number7591
DOIs
StatePublished - 25 Feb 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health HG008688 and GM71440 grants to C.H., GM113194 grant to T.P. and C.H. and grants from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI), Israel Science Foundation (ISF grant no. 1667/12), Israeli Centers of Excellence (I-CORE) Program (ISF grants no. 41/11 and no. 1796/12), Ernest and Bonnie Beutler Research Program and Kahn Family Foundation to G.R. A part of this work was funded by the Chicago Biomedical Consortium with support from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust (to D.D. and C.H.). C.H. is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). G.R. is a member of the Sagol Neuroscience Network and holds the Djerassi Chair for Oncology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. D.D. is supported by a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) long-term fellowship. S.N. is an HHMI Fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (DRG-2215-15), previously supported by a Yen post-doctoral fellowship in interdisciplinary research. Q.D. is supported by the National Institutes of Health grant HG006699. We wish to thank S. Farage-Barhom, K. Cesarkas and E. Glick-Saar for help with deep sequencing.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

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