Subject Area
Cell Biology, Genetics, Life Sciences, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience
Abstract
One mechanism for generating diversity at the single cell level is selective expression of a unique set of transcription factors (TFs) and RNA binding proteins (RBPs). These regulatory factors contribute to functions of cells by controlling cell fate, turning genes on and off, and processing of transcripts either co- or post-transcriptionally. Many genes, especially neuronal genes, have multiple different splicing events, promoters, and/or polyadenylation sites. Post-transcriptional coordination is in the infancy of being studied and the functional consequences of this coupling at the single cell level has yet to be explored. Here we show, mec-2 coordination of alternative transcription start sites (TSS), alternative splice sites, and alternative transcription termination sites (TTS) in single neurons is highly coordinated. Most neuron types largely select for one of eight TSS and are exclusively coupled to one of four TTS, except for mechanosensory neurons selecting for more complex processing. This regulation is not carried out by a single master-regulatory factor in a given cell, but rather many TFs and RBPs acting in concert to coordinate the processing of a single transcript. This level of regulation shows just how tight the regulation of such complex genes is at the single neuron level. Organism behavior not only depends on the development and function of a single cell to not only the express the correct set of genes, but also the correct set of isoforms.
Degree Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Biological Sciences
Advisor
Adam Norris
Second Advisor
Richard Jones
Third Advisor
Edward Glasscock
Fourth Advisor
Rachel Arey
Number of Pages
130
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Calovich-Benne, Canyon, "Regulation and Function of mec-2 Alternative Splicing in Single Cells" (2024). Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations. 28.
https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_biologicalsciences_etds/28
Included in
Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Bioinformatics Commons, Cell Biology Commons, Genetics and Genomics Commons, Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons, Molecular Biology Commons
