Golebiewski Anna K, Stolze Lindsey K, Vazquez Valentina D, Mehrabi Yazdi Alhan, Careaga Cecilia M, Romanoski Casey E
The Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
The Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
bioRxiv. 2025 Aug 2:2025.07.29.667484. doi: 10.1101/2025.07.29.667484.
Alternative splicing modulates mRNA protein-coding sequence, stability, and translation rates, although it has not been comprehensively annotated in human endothelial cells (ECs). EC dysfunction is a hallmark of complex inflammatory diseases, including cancer and atherosclerosis. Therefore, this study modeled acute inflammation in vitro using 53 genetically distinct human aortic EC lines exposed to interleukin-1β (IL-1β) or control media. This approach identified 1,224 differentially spliced transcripts (DSTs) between IL-1β and control conditions. DSTs were enriched for alternative first (AF) exons, including several novel mRNA isoforms of disease-associated and metabolic genes. It was hypothesized and confirmed that AF splicing was driven by alternative promoters using ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq data. To identify alternative promoters driving IL-1β-dependent AF isoforms, a quantitative measure of promoter activity ratios was defined, and analysis found that histone 3 lysine 27 acetylation and binding of the transcription factors ERG and RELA often correlated with alternative promoter usage. Finally, the effect of common genetic variants on alternative first exon usage was interrogated through splicing quantitative trait locus (sQTL) analysis. Significant sQTLs were next submitted to genetic colocalization analysis with cardiovascular-related associations identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), finding colocalized signals at 66 human disease loci corresponding to 30 genes and 39 variants. These genetically regulated splicing differences provide plausible mechanisms explaining some of the genetic risk for cardiovascular-related diseases. Among the top signals are novel isoforms of Endothelial Protein C Receptor (PROCR) and Distal Membrane Arm Assembly Component 2 (DMAC2), whose splicing patterns colocalize with risk for coronary artery disease (CAD). This study demonstrates the prevalence of inducible alternative promoters and supports that ECs express numerous novel transcripts regulated by genetics and inflammation that are consistent with driving individual risk for cardiovascular disease.
可变剪接可调节mRNA的蛋白质编码序列、稳定性和翻译速率,尽管其在人类内皮细胞(ECs)中尚未得到全面注释。EC功能障碍是包括癌症和动脉粥样硬化在内的复杂炎症性疾病的一个标志。因此,本研究使用53种基因不同的人主动脉EC系,在体外模拟急性炎症,使其暴露于白细胞介素-1β(IL-1β)或对照培养基中。这种方法确定了IL-1β与对照条件之间的1224个差异剪接转录本(DSTs)。DSTs富含可变的首个(AF)外显子,包括几种与疾病相关和代谢基因的新型mRNA异构体。通过ATAC-seq和ChIP-seq数据推测并证实,AF剪接是由可变启动子驱动的。为了确定驱动IL-1β依赖性AF异构体的可变启动子,定义了启动子活性比率的定量测量方法,分析发现组蛋白3赖氨酸27乙酰化以及转录因子ERG和RELA的结合通常与可变启动子的使用相关。最后,通过剪接数量性状基因座(sQTL)分析研究了常见基因变异对可变首个外显子使用的影响。接下来,将显著的sQTL提交给基因共定位分析,与全基因组关联研究(GWAS)确定的心血管相关关联进行分析,在66个人类疾病基因座上发现了共定位信号,对应于30个基因和39个变异。这些遗传调控的剪接差异提供了合理的机制,解释了心血管相关疾病的一些遗传风险。其中最显著的信号包括内皮蛋白C受体(PROCR)和远端膜臂组装成分2(DMAC2)的新型异构体,它们的剪接模式与冠状动脉疾病(CAD)风险共定位。本研究证明了可诱导可变启动子的普遍性,并支持ECs表达许多受遗传和炎症调节的新型转录本,这些转录本与个体心血管疾病风险相关。