Abstract A013: Molecular mechanisms of intron retention in Long Non-Coding RNAs
Authors: Grammatikakis Ioannis , Behera Amit , Corrina R Hartford Corrine , Pehrsson Erica C , Li XiaoLing , Zhao Yongmei , Shrethsa Biraj , Brownmiller Tayvia , Caplen Natasha J , Prasanth Kannanganattu V , Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis Thomas , Lal Ashish 
Published: November 2024

Intron retention (IR) is a form of alternative splicing in which an intron that should be spliced out from a precursor transcript, is retained in the mature RNA after the splicing is completed. Although there is emerging evidence of widespread IR in protein-coding genes and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here, we report the discovery of novel transcripts from the p53-induced lncRNA PURPL, in which intron 2 is retained. To determine the molecular mechanism(s) of IR in PURPL, we conducted a CRISPR-based screen in 3 different cell lines. For this purpose, we utilized a genome-wide guide RNA library expressing a reporter minigene containing the sequence of PURPL intron 2 and its flanking exons. Considering the Percent Intron Retention as readout, we unexpectedly identified proteins of the basal splicing machinery as potential promoting factors of PURPL IR, including the U2-Auxiliary Factor 2 (U2AF2) splicing factor which was one of the top hits of the screen. We next analyzed ENCODE eCLIP-seq datasets to identify RNA binding proteins that could regulate intron 2 and decided to focus on U2AF2 which showed the highest number of binding sites and strongest eCLIP signals within PURPL intron 2 sequence. We validated the effect of U2AF2 by knocking it down, confirming that U2AF2 is a positive regulator of PURPL intron 2 retention as opposed to its canonical function. We also identified the RNA Binding Protein SON as a splicing regulator that acts as an antagonist of U2AF2 in regulating PURPL intron 2 retention. To determine the global impact of U2AF2 knockdown, we performed Iso-Seq and RNA-seq upon U2AF2 depletion. We found that although U2AF2 predominantly acts to promote the splicing of introns in most cellular transcripts, it promotes intron retention in a subset of transcripts. One of these targets is MALAT1, a lncRNA known to play role in splicing by interacting with splicing factors in nuclear speckles. Interestingly, U2AF2 depletion results in MALAT1 exclusion from nuclear speckles. We are currently in the process of characterizing the effect of U2AF2 in the function of the two lncRNAs. These data provide mechanistic insights on PURPL and MALAT1 splicing and function and reveal a previously unrecognized non-canonical function of U2AF2 in promoting intron retention.

Citation Format: Ioannis Grammatikakis, Amit Behera, Corrine Corrina R Hartford, Erica C Pehrsson, XiaoLing Li, Yongmei Zhao, Biraj Shrethsa, Tayvia Brownmiller, Natasha J Caplen, Kannanganattu V Prasanth, Thomas Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis, Ashish Lal. Molecular mechanisms of intron retention in Long Non-Coding RNAs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: RNAs as Drivers, Targets, and Therapeutics in Cancer; 2024 Nov 14-17; Bellevue, Washington. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2024;23(11_Suppl):Abstract nr A013.