Laboratory of RNA Regulatory Networks, Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
Cancer Research Centre of Toulouse, INSERM UMR 1037, 31037 Toulouse, France.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2023 Jan 6;51(D1):D240-D247. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac782.
RNA G-quadruplexes (RG4s) are non-canonical, disease-associated post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression whose functions are driven by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Being able to explore transcriptome-wide RG4 formation and interaction with RBPs is thus paramount to understanding how they are regulated and exploiting them as potential therapeutic targets. Towards this goal, we present QUADRatlas (https://rg4db.cibio.unitn.it), a database of experimentally-derived and computationally predicted RG4s in the human transcriptome, enriched with biological function and disease associations. As RBPs are key to their function, we mined known interactions of RG4s with such proteins, complemented with an extensive RBP binding sites dataset. Users can thus intersect RG4s with their potential regulators and effectors, enabling the formulation of novel hypotheses on RG4 regulation, function and pathogenicity. To support this capability, we provide analysis tools for predicting whether an RBP can bind RG4s, RG4 enrichment in a gene set, and de novo RG4 prediction. Genome-browser and table views allow exploring, filtering, and downloading the data quickly for individual genes and in batch. QUADRatlas is a significant step forward in our ability to understand the biology of RG4s, offering unmatched data content and enabling the integrated analysis of RG4s and their interactions with RBPs.
RNA 四链体 (RG4s) 是一种非经典的、与疾病相关的转录后基因表达调控因子,其功能由 RNA 结合蛋白 (RBPs) 驱动。因此,能够探索整个转录组中 RG4 的形成及其与 RBPs 的相互作用,对于了解它们的调控机制以及将其作为潜在的治疗靶点具有至关重要的意义。为此,我们提出了 QUADRatlas(https://rg4db.cibio.unitn.it),这是一个包含人类转录组中实验衍生和计算预测的 RG4 的数据库,其中富集了生物学功能和疾病关联信息。由于 RBPs 是其功能的关键,我们挖掘了已知 RG4 与这些蛋白质的相互作用,并补充了一个广泛的 RBP 结合位点数据集。因此,用户可以将 RG4 与其潜在的调节剂和效应物进行交叉,从而对 RG4 的调控、功能和致病性提出新的假设。为了支持这一功能,我们提供了分析工具,用于预测 RBP 是否可以结合 RG4、基因集的 RG4 富集情况以及从头预测 RG4。基因组浏览器和表格视图允许快速浏览、筛选和下载单个基因和批量基因的数据。QUADRatlas 是我们理解 RG4 生物学能力的重要一步,提供了无与伦比的数据内容,并支持 RG4 及其与 RBPs 相互作用的综合分析。