Intra-promoter switch of transcription initiation sites in proliferation signaling-dependent RNA metabolism

Joseph W Wragg*, Paige-Louise White, Yavor Hadzhiev, Kasun Wanigasooriya, Agata Stodolna, Louise Tee, Joao D Barros-Silva, Andrew D Beggs*, Ferenc Müller*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Global changes in transcriptional regulation and RNA metabolism are crucial features of cancer development. However, little is known about the role of the core promoter in defining transcript identity and post-transcriptional fates, a potentially crucial layer of transcriptional regulation in cancer. In this study, we use CAGE-seq analysis to uncover widespread use of dual-initiation promoters in which non-canonical, first-base-cytosine (C) transcription initiation occurs alongside first-base-purine initiation across 59 human cancers and healthy tissues. C-initiation is often followed by a 5' terminal oligopyrimidine (5'TOP) sequence, dramatically increasing the range of genes potentially subjected to 5'TOP-associated post-transcriptional regulation. We show selective, dynamic switching between purine and C-initiation site usage, indicating transcription initiation-level regulation in cancers. We additionally detail global metabolic changes in C-initiation transcripts that mark differentiation status, proliferative capacity, radiosensitivity, and response to irradiation and to PI3K-Akt-mTOR and DNA damage pathway-targeted radiosensitization therapies in colorectal cancer organoids and cancer cell lines and tissues.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1970-1984
Number of pages15
JournalNature Structural and Molecular Biology
Volume30
Issue number12
Early online date23 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements:
We thank The Human Biomaterials Resource Centre (BioBank), Birmingham, for fresh tissue samples and anonymized clinical data. We thank Genomics Birmingham for sequencing. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (106955) to F.M., Cancer Research UK, Advanced Clinician Scientist Award (ref. C31641/A23923) to A.B. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. We would also like to thank C. Nepal and B. Lenhard for their comments on the manuscript.

Copyright:
© 2023. The Author(s).

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