Sera Antibody Repertoire Analyses Reveal Mechanisms of Broad and Pandemic Strain Neutralizing Responses after Human Norovirus Vaccination

Rapidly evolving RNA viruses, such as the GII.4 strain of human norovirus (HuNoV), and their vaccines elicit complex serological responses associated with previous exposure. Specific correlates of protection, moreover, remain poorly understood. Here, we report the GII.4-serological antibody repertoire—pre- and post-vaccination—and select several anti-body clonotypes for epitope and structural analysis. The humoral response was dominated by GII.4-specific antibodies that blocked ancestral strains or by antibodies that bound to divergent genotypes and did not block viral-entry-ligand interactions. However, one antibody, A1431, showed broad blockade toward tested GII.4 strains and neutralized the pandemic GII.P16-GII.4 Sydney strain. Structural mapping revealed conserved epitopes, which were occluded on the virion or partially exposed, allowing for broad blockade with neutralizing activity. Overall, our results provide high-resolution molecular information on humoral immune responses after HuNoV vaccination and demonstrate that infection-derived and vaccine-elicited antibodies can exhibit broad blockade and neutralization against this prevalent human pathogen

MicroRNAs regulate the expression of the alternative splicing factor nPTB during muscle development

Alternative pre-mRNA splicing determines many changes in gene expression during development. Two regulators known to control splicing patterns during neuron and muscle differentiation are the polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) and its neuronal homolog nPTB. These proteins repress certain exons in early myoblasts, but upon differentiation of mature myotubes PTB/nPTB expression is reduced, leading to increased inclusion of their target exons. We show here that the repression of nPTB expression during myoblast differentiation results from its targeting by the muscle-restricted microRNA miR-133. During differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts, nPTB protein but not mRNA expression is strongly reduced, concurrent with the up-regulation of miR-133 and the induction of splicing for several PTB-repressed exons. Introduction of synthetic miR-133 into undifferentiated C2C12 cells leads to a decrease in endogenous nPTB expression. Both the miR-133 and the coexpressed miR-1/206 microRNAs are extremely conserved across animal species, and PTB proteins are predicted targets for these miRNAs in Drosophila, mice, and humans. There are two potential miR-133-responsive elements (MRE) within the nPTB 3′ untranslated region (UTR), and a luciferase reporter carrying this 3′ UTR is repressed by miR-133 in an MRE-dependent manner. Transfection of locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotides designed to block the function of miR-133 and miR-1/206 increases expression of nPTB and decreases the inclusion of PTB dependent exons. These results indicate that miR-133 directly down-regulates a key splicing factor during muscle development and establishes a role for microRNAs in the control of a developmentally dynamic splicing program

CDK12 regulates DNA repair genes by suppressing intronic polyadenylation

Mutations that attenuate homologous recombination (HR)-mediated repair promote tumorigenesis and sensitize cells to chemotherapeutics that cause replication fork collapse, a phenotype known as ‘BRCAness’1. BRCAness tumours arise from loss-of-function mutations in 22 genes1. Of these genes, all but one (CDK12) function directly in the HR repair pathway1. CDK12 phosphorylates serine 2 of the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain heptapeptide repeat2–7, a modification that regulates transcription elongation, splicing, and cleavage and polyadenylation8,9. Genome-wide expression studies suggest that depletion of CDK12 abrogates the expression of several HR genes relatively specifically, thereby blunting HR repair3–7,10,11. This observation suggests that the mutational status of CDK12 may predict sensitivity to targeted treatments against BRCAness, such as PARP1 inhibitors, and that CDK12 inhibitors may induce sensitization of HR-competent tumours to these treatments6,7,10,11. Despite growing clinical interest, the mechanism by which CDK12 regulates HR genes remains unknown. Here we show that CDK12 globally suppresses intronic polyadenylation events in mouse embryonic stem cells, enabling the production of full-length gene products. Many HR genes harbour more intronic polyadenylation sites than other expressed genes, and these sites are particularly sensitive to loss of CDK12. The cumulative effect of these sites accounts for the enhanced sensitivity of HR gene expression to CDK12 loss, and we find that this mechanism is conserved in human tumours that contain loss-of-function CDK12 mutations. This work clarifies the function of CDK12 and underscores its potential both as a chemotherapeutic target and as a tumour biomarker.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Program Project Grant P01CA04206)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (United States Public Health Service Grant R01-GM034277)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (United States Public Health Service Grant R01-CA133404)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Grant P30-CA14051)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Pre-Doctoral Training Grant T32GM007287

Exon repression by polypyrimidine tract binding protein

Polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB) is known to silence the splicing of many alternative exons. However, exons repressed by PTB are affected by other RNA regulatory elements and proteins. This makes it difficult to dissect the structure of the pre-mRNP complexes that silence splicing, and to understand the role of PTB in this process. We determined the minimal requirements for PTB-mediated splicing repression. We find that the minimal sequence for high affinity binding by PTB is relatively large, containing multiple polypyrimidine elements. Analytical ultracentrifugation and proteolysis mapping of RNA cross-links on the PTB protein indicate that most PTB exists as a monomer, and that a polypyrimidine element extends across multiple PTB domains. The high affinity site is bound initially by a PTB monomer and at higher concentrations by additional PTB molecules. Significantly, this site is not sufficient for splicing repression when placed in the 3' splice site of a strong test exon. Efficient repression requires a second binding site within the exon itself or downstream from it. This second site enhances formation of a multimeric PTB complex, even if it does not bind well to PTB on its own. These experiments show that PTB can be sufficient to repress splicing of an otherwise constitutive exon, without binding sites for additional regulatory proteins and without competing with U2AF binding. The minimal complex mediating splicing repression by PTB requires two binding sites bound by an oligomeric PTB complex

Homologues of the Caenorhabditis elegans Fox-1 protein are neuronal splicing regulators in mammals.

A vertebrate homologue of the Fox-1 protein from C. elegans was recently shown to bind to the element GCAUG and to act as an inhibitor of alternative splicing patterns in muscle. The element UGCAUG is a splicing enhancer element found downstream of numerous neuron-specific exons. We show here that mouse Fox-1 (mFox-1) and another homologue, Fox-2, are both specifically expressed in neurons in addition to muscle and heart. The mammalian Fox genes are very complex transcription units that generate transcripts from multiple promoters and with multiple internal exons whose inclusion is regulated. These genes produce a large family of proteins with variable N and C termini and internal deletions. We show that the overexpression of both Fox-1 and Fox-2 isoforms specifically activates splicing of neuronally regulated exons. This splicing activation requires UGCAUG enhancer elements. Conversely, RNA interference-mediated knockdown of Fox protein expression inhibits splicing of UGCAUG-dependent exons. These experiments show that this large family of proteins regulates splicing in the nervous system. They do this through a splicing enhancer function, in addition to their apparent negative effects on splicing in vertebrate muscle and in worms

Homologues of the Caenorhabditis elegans Fox-1 protein are neuronal splicing regulators in mammals.

A vertebrate homologue of the Fox-1 protein from C. elegans was recently shown to bind to the element GCAUG and to act as an inhibitor of alternative splicing patterns in muscle. The element UGCAUG is a splicing enhancer element found downstream of numerous neuron-specific exons. We show here that mouse Fox-1 (mFox-1) and another homologue, Fox-2, are both specifically expressed in neurons in addition to muscle and heart. The mammalian Fox genes are very complex transcription units that generate transcripts from multiple promoters and with multiple internal exons whose inclusion is regulated. These genes produce a large family of proteins with variable N and C termini and internal deletions. We show that the overexpression of both Fox-1 and Fox-2 isoforms specifically activates splicing of neuronally regulated exons. This splicing activation requires UGCAUG enhancer elements. Conversely, RNA interference-mediated knockdown of Fox protein expression inhibits splicing of UGCAUG-dependent exons. These experiments show that this large family of proteins regulates splicing in the nervous system. They do this through a splicing enhancer function, in addition to their apparent negative effects on splicing in vertebrate muscle and in worms