The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Cancer Res. 2019 Oct 15;79(20):5288-5301. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-1504. Epub 2019 Aug 28.
Misregulated alternative RNA splicing (AS) contributes to the tumorigenesis and progression of human cancers, including glioblastoma (GBM). Here, we showed that a major splicing factor, serine and arginine rich splicing factor 3 (SRSF3), was frequently upregulated in clinical glioma specimens and that elevated SRSF3 was associated with tumor progression and a poor prognosis for patients with glioma. In patient-derived glioma stem-like cells (GSC), SRSF3 expression promoted cell proliferation, self-renewal, and tumorigenesis. Transcriptomic profiling identified more than 1,000 SRSF3-affected AS events, with a preference for exon skipping in genes involved with cell mitosis. Motif analysis identified the sequence of CA(G/C/A)CC(C/A) as a potential exonic splicing enhancer for these SRSF3-regulated exons. To evaluate the biological impact of SRSF3-affected AS events, four candidates were selected whose AS correlated with expression in glioma tissues, and their splicing pattern was modified using a CRISPR/Cas9 approach. Two functionally validated AS candidates were further investigated for the mechanisms underlying their isoform-specific functions. Specifically, following knockout of SRSF3, transcription factor ETS variant 1 () gene showed exon skipping at exon 7, while nudE neurodevelopment protein 1 () gene showed replacement of terminal exon 9 with a mutually exclusive exon 9'. SRSF3-regulated AS of these two genes markedly increased their oncogenic activity in GSCs. Taken together, our data demonstrate that SRSF3 is a key regulator of AS in GBM and that understanding mechanisms of misregulated AS could provide critical insights for developing effective therapeutic strategies against GBMs. SIGNIFICANCE: SRSF3 is a significant regulator of glioma-associated alternative splicing, implicating SRSF3 as an oncogenic factor that contributes to the tumor biology of GBM.
失调的选择性 RNA 剪接(AS)导致包括胶质母细胞瘤(GBM)在内的人类癌症的发生和发展。在这里,我们表明主要剪接因子丝氨酸/精氨酸丰富剪接因子 3(SRSF3)在临床脑肿瘤标本中经常上调,并且 SRSF3 升高与肿瘤进展和胶质母细胞瘤患者的预后不良相关。在患者来源的神经胶质瘤干细胞样细胞(GSC)中,SRSF3 表达促进细胞增殖、自我更新和致瘤性。转录组谱分析确定了超过 1000 个 SRSF3 影响的 AS 事件,这些事件偏爱与细胞有丝分裂相关的基因中的外显子跳跃。基序分析确定了 CA(G/C/A)CC(A/C/A)序列作为这些 SRSF3 调节的外显子的潜在外显子剪接增强子。为了评估 SRSF3 影响的 AS 事件的生物学影响,选择了四个候选者,其 AS 与脑肿瘤组织中的表达相关,并且使用 CRISPR/Cas9 方法修改了它们的剪接模式。进一步研究了两个功能验证的 AS 候选者,以了解其异构体特异性功能的机制。具体而言,在敲除 SRSF3 后,转录因子 ETS 变体 1()基因在外显子 7 处出现外显子跳跃,而 nudE 神经发育蛋白 1()基因显示用互斥外显子 9'替换末端外显子 9。这两个基因的 SRSF3 调节的 AS 显著增加了它们在 GSCs 中的致癌活性。总之,我们的数据表明 SRSF3 是 GBM 中 AS 的关键调节剂,并且了解失调的 AS 机制可以为开发针对 GBM 的有效治疗策略提供重要见解。
SRSF3 是胶质母细胞瘤相关选择性剪接的重要调节剂,表明 SRSF3 是一种致癌因子,有助于 GBM 的肿瘤生物学。