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. 2022 May 18:20:2648-2656.
doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.05.029. eCollection 2022.

Genome-wide characterization of RNA editing highlights roles of high editing events of glutamatergic synapse during mouse retinal development

Affiliations

Genome-wide characterization of RNA editing highlights roles of high editing events of glutamatergic synapse during mouse retinal development

Chenghao Li et al. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. .

Abstract

Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing leads to functional change of neurotransmitter receptor which is essential for neurotransmission and normal neuronal development. As a highly accessible part of central nervous system, retina has been extensively studied, however, it remains largely unknown how RNA editing regulates its development. Here, a genome-wide screening of high-confidence RNA editing events were performed to decipher the dynamic transcriptome regulation by RNA editing during mouse retinal development. 2000 high-confidence editing sites across eight developmental stages of retina were called. Three unique patterns (RNA-editinghigh pattern, RNA-editingmedium pattern and RNA-editinglow pattern) were identified by clustering these editing sites based on their editing level during retinal development. Editing events from RNA-editinghigh pattern were significantly associated with glutamate receptors and regulated synaptic transmission. Interestingly, most non-synonymous high-editing sites were mapped to ion channel genes of glutamatergic synapse which were associated with neurotransmission by controlling ion channel permeability and affecting exocytosis. Meanwhile, these non-synonymous editing sites were evolutionarily conserved and exhibited a consistently increasing editing levels between mouse and human retinal development. Single-cell RNA-seq data analysis revealed that RNA editing events prefer to occur in two main cell types including bipolar and amacrine cells. Genes with non-synonymous high-editing sites were enriched in both bipolar cells and retina ganglion cells, which may mediate retina ganglion cell differentiation by altering channel ion permeability. Together, our results provide novel insights into mechanism of post-transcriptional regulation during retinal development and help to develop novel RNA editing-guided therapeutic strategies for retinal disorders.

Keywords: Bipolar cells; Non-synonymous; RNA editing; Retinal development; Retinal ganglion cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Global analysis of A to I RNA editing sites during mouse retinal development. A) The sequences neighboring the RNA editing sites, exhibit the pattern consistent with known Adar motif; B.C) Correlations between expression levels of Adar1 and Adar2(quantified as the number of fragments per kilobase per million mapped fragments (FPKM)) and overall editing levels; D) Distribution of A to I RNA editing sites to different genomic locations (UTR, untranslated region); E) Distribution of A to I RNA editing sites in repeat elements versus non-repeat elements; F) GO enrichment analysis of genes that have RNA editing sites.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
RNA editing sites enriched in B1 SINE family. A) Number of editing sites for each repeat family, and the green histogram shows the number of editing sites for the subfamily of SINE repeats. B) Boxplot of RNA editing level distribution among the editing sites in the B1 elements, other repeat elements and non-repeat regions. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Characteristics of different post-transcriptional regulation patterns by RNA editing in retinal development. A) Heatmap for k-means clustering (k = 3) of 2000 high confidence editing sites.The LOESS smoothing curve represents the three editing patterns during retina development. The gray shaded areas indicate the 95% confidence interval of the smoothing curve. Red, green and blue represents RNA-editinghigh pattern, RNA-editingmedium pattern and RNA-editinglow pattern, respectively. B) Heatmap of the GO and KEGG enrichment analysis and within the genes harboring RNA editing sites from different clusters. Color intensity indicates the adjusted P-values of enrichment tests. C) The fraction of different genomic locations in the three clusters of RNA editing sites. D) The fraction of synonymous and non-synonymous mutations in the three clusters of RNA editing sites. E) The fraction of repeat elements versus non-repeat elements in the three clusters of RNA editing sites. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Non-synonymous editing events exhibit RNA-editinghigh pattern. A) Integrated view of edited genes from glutamatergic synapse KEGG pathways (mmu04724). B) Collection of non-synonymous (Nonsyn) editing sites within ionotropic glutamate receptors and ion channel protein. Nonsyn: amino acid change; Human(hg38): non-synonymous editing sites conserved between mouse and human. C) Pattern of non-synonymous high-editing sites in human retinal development.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Non-synonymous events were enriched in bipolar cells and retinal ganglion cells. A) UMAP plot representing clusters of major retinal cell types. B) Dotplot showing the editing enzyme (Adar1 and Adar2) expression of major retinal cell types. C) The ratio of editing sites identified in various cell types. D) UMAP plot shows the non-synonymous edited genes enrichment sore in retinal cells. BCs, Bipolar cells; RGCs, Retinal ganglion cells; HCs, Horizontal cells; ACs, Amacrine cells; PPCs, Photoreceptor precursors cells; E-RPCs, Early retinal precursor cells; L-RPCs, Late retinal precursor cells; NCs, Neurogenic cells; MGs, Müller glia cells.

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