Abstract
BackgroundGene expression is tightly regulated at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. RNA-binding proteins are involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation events. They are involved in a variety of functions such as splicing, alternative splicing, nuclear import and export of mRNA, RNA stability and translation. There are several well-characterized RNA-binding motifs present in a whole genome, such as RNA recognition motif (RRM), KH domain, zinc-fingers etc. In the present study, we have investigated human genome for the presence of RRM-containing gene products starting from RRM domains in the Pfam (Protein family database) repository.ResultsIn Pfam, seven families are recorded to contain RRM-containing proteins. We studied these families for their taxonomic representation, sequence features (identity, length, phylogeny) and structural properties (mapping conservation on the structures). We then examined the presence of RRM-containing gene products in Homo sapiens genome and identified 928 RRM-containing gene products. These were studied for their predicted domain architectures, biological processes, involvement in pathways, disease relevance and disorder content. RRM domains were observed to occur multiple times in a single polypeptide. However, there are 56 other co-existing domains involved in different regulatory functions. Further, functional enrichment analysis revealed that RRM-containing gene products are mainly involved in biological functions such as mRNA splicing and its regulation.ConclusionsOur sequence analysis identified RRM-containing gene products in the human genome and provides insights into their domain architectures and biological functions. Since mRNA splicing and gene regulation are important in the cellular machinery, this analysis provides an early overview of genes that carry out these functions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1159) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Gene expression is tightly regulated at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels
To achieve the sequence-specific recognition of targets, there are several RNA-binding domains that are well-characterized in RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) such as RRM (RNA recognition motif) domains, KH domains, pumilio homology domain, zinc fingers, double-stranded RNA binding motifs [7,8]
RRM domains are known to be ~80-100 amino aids in their length [9] and Figure 2 shows the length distribution of the members for the seven RRM families in protein sequence family database (Pfam) database
Summary
Gene expression is tightly regulated at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. RNA-binding proteins are involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation events They are involved in a variety of functions such as splicing, alternative splicing, nuclear import and export of mRNA, RNA stability and translation. There are several well-characterized RNA-binding motifs present in a whole genome, such as RNA recognition motif (RRM), KH domain, zinc-fingers etc. The gene expression process in eukaryotes needs to be tightly regulated at every step It is regulated at the transcription level by means such as chromatin structure, DNA sequence elements and binding of transcription factors etc. The post-transcriptional regulation governs several processes namely alternative splicing, RNA editing, transport of RNA from nucleus to cytoplasm, RNA stability and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) mediate all the posttranscriptional control events. RRM is the most abundant RNA-binding domain in higher vertebrates and is known as RNA binding domain (RBD) or ribonucleoprotein domain (RNP) [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
