Nicole J. Lambert

RNA Bind-n-Seq: Quantitative Assessment of the Sequence and Structural Binding Specificity of RNA Binding Proteins

Specific protein-RNA interactions guide posttranscriptional gene regulation. Here, we describe RNA Bind-n-Seq (RBNS), a method that comprehensively characterizes sequence and structural specificity of RNA binding proteins (RBPs), and its application to the developmental alternative splicing factors RBFOX2, CELF1/CUGBP1, and MBNL1. For each factor, we recovered both canonical motifs and additional near-optimal binding motifs. RNA secondary structure inhibits binding of RBFOX2 and CELF1, while MBNL1 favors unpaired Us but tolerates C/G pairing in motifs containing UGC and/or GCU. Dissociation constants calculated from RBNS data using a novel algorithm correlated highly with values measured by surface plasmon resonance. Motifs identified by RBNS were conserved, were bound and active in vivo, and distinguished the subset of motifs enriched by CLIP-Seq that had regulatory activity. Together, our data demonstrate that RBNS complements crosslinking-based methods and show that in vivo binding and activity of these splicing factors is driven largely by intrinsic RNA affinity.

Alternative Splicing of RNA Triplets Is Often Regulated and Accelerates Proteome Evolution

Inclusion or exclusion of single codons at the splice acceptor site of mammalian genes is regulated in a tissue-specific manner, is strongly conserved, and is associated with local accelerated protein evolution.

Musashi proteins are post-transcriptional regulators of the epithelial-luminal cell state

The conserved Musashi (Msi) family of RNA binding proteins are expressed in stem/progenitor and cancer cells, but generally absent from differentiated cells, consistent with a role in cell state regulation. We found that Msi genes are rarely mutated but frequently overexpressed in human cancers and are associated with an epithelial-luminal cell state. Using ribosome profiling and RNA-seq analysis, we found that Msi proteins regulate translation of genes implicated in epithelial cell biology and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and promote an epithelial splicing pattern. Overexpression of Msi proteins inhibited the translation of Jagged1, a factor required for EMT, and repressed EMT in cell culture and in mammary gland in vivo. Knockdown of Msis in epithelial cancer cells promoted loss of epithelial identity. Our results show that mammalian Msi proteins contribute to an epithelial gene expression program in neural and mammary cell types. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.03915.001

A Large-Scale Binding and Functional Map of Human RNA Binding Proteins

Genomes encompass all the information necessary to specify the development and function of an organism. In addition to genes, genomes also contain a myriad of functional elements that control various steps in gene expression. A major class of these elements function only when transcribed into RNA as they serve as the binding sites for RNA binding proteins (RBPs) which act to control post-transcriptional processes including splicing, cleavage and polyadenylation, RNA editing, RNA localization, translation, and RNA stability. Despite the importance of these functional RNA elements encoded in the genome, they have been much less studied than genes and DNA elements. Here, we describe the mapping and characterization of RNA elements recognized by a large collection of human RBPs in K562 and HepG2 cells. These data expand the catalog of functional elements encoded in the human genome by addition of a large set of elements that function at the RNA level through interaction with RBPs.

RNA Bind-n-Seq: Measuring the Binding Affinity Landscape of RNA-Binding Proteins

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) coordinate post-transcriptional control of gene expression, often through sequence-specific recognition of primary transcripts or mature messenger RNAs. Hundreds of RBPs are encoded in the human genome, most with undefined or incompletely defined biological roles. Understanding the function of these factors will require the identification of each RBPs distinct RNA binding specificity. RNA Bind-n-Seq (RBNS) is a high-throughput, cost-effective in vitro method capable of resolving sequence and secondary structure preferences of RBPs. Dissociation constants can also be inferred from RBNS data when provided with additional experimental information. Here, we describe the experimental procedures to perform RBNS and discuss important parameters of the method and ways that the experiment can be tailored to the specific RBP under study. Additionally, we present the conceptual framework and execution of the freely available RBNS computational pipeline and describe the outputs of the pipeline. Different approaches to quantify binding specificity, quality control metrics, and estimation of binding constants are also covered.

RNA Bind-n-Seq

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) coordinate post-transcriptional control of gene expression, often through sequence-specific recognition of primary transcripts or mature messenger RNAs. Hundreds of RBPs are encoded in the human genome, most with undefined or incompletely defined biological roles. Understanding the function of these factors will require the identification of each RBPs distinct RNA binding specificity. RNA Bind-n-Seq (RBNS) is a high-throughput, cost-effective in vitro method capable of resolving sequence and secondary structure preferences of RBPs. Dissociation constants can also be inferred from RBNS data when provided with additional experimental information. Here, we describe the experimental procedures to perform RBNS and discuss important parameters of the method and ways that the experiment can be tailored to the specific RBP under study. Additionally, we present the conceptual framework and execution of the freely available RBNS computational pipeline and describe the outputs of the pipeline. Different approaches to quantify binding specificity, quality control metrics, and estimation of binding constants are also covered.