Department of Public Health and Sciences, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Department of Biology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Dec 30;25(1):534. doi: 10.3390/ijms25010534.
Significant advances have been achieved in understanding the critical role of enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) in the complex field of gene regulation. However, notable uncertainty remains concerning the biology of eRNAs, highlighting the need for continued research to uncover their exact functions in cellular processes and diseases. We present a comprehensive study to scrutinize mutation density patterns, mutation strand bias, and mutation burden in eRNAs across multiple cancer types. Our findings reveal that eRNAs exhibit mutation strand bias akin to that observed in protein-coding RNAs. We also identified a novel pattern, in which mutation density is notably diminished around the central region of the eRNA, but conspicuously elevated towards both the beginning and end. This pattern can be potentially explained by a mechanism involving heightened transcriptional activity and the activation of transcription-coupled repair. The central regions of the eRNAs appear to be more conserved, hinting at a potential mechanism preserving their structural and functional integrity, while the extremities may be more susceptible to mutations due to increased exposure. The evolutionary trajectory of this mutational pattern suggests a nuanced adaptation in eRNAs, where stability at their core coexists with flexibility at their extremities, potentially facilitating their diverse interactions with other genetic entities.
在理解增强子 RNA(eRNA)在复杂的基因调控领域中的关键作用方面已经取得了重大进展。然而,eRNA 的生物学特性仍然存在显著的不确定性,这突出表明需要继续研究,以揭示它们在细胞过程和疾病中的确切功能。我们进行了一项全面的研究,以仔细研究多个癌症类型中的 eRNA 的突变密度模式、突变链偏向和突变负担。我们的研究结果表明,eRNA 表现出与蛋白质编码 RNA 中观察到的类似的突变链偏向。我们还发现了一种新的模式,即突变密度在 eRNA 的中央区域明显减少,但在起始和结束处明显升高。这种模式可以通过一种机制来解释,该机制涉及转录活性的增加和转录偶联修复的激活。eRNA 的中央区域似乎更保守,这暗示着一种潜在的机制可以保护它们的结构和功能完整性,而极端区域可能由于暴露增加而更容易发生突变。这种突变模式的进化轨迹表明,eRNA 存在细微的适应性,其核心的稳定性与极端区域的灵活性并存,这可能有助于它们与其他遗传实体的多样化相互作用。
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