Transposable Element Interaction and Its Impact on Human Development and Health

项目总结 人类基因组计划最令人惊讶的发现之一是，只有大约1.5%的基因组 编码蛋白质，而约46%由转座元件(TES)组成。功能评估 这些无处不在的物质如何影响人类的发展和健康，构成了一个重大挑战。虽然大多数工商业污水附加费 被认为是无功能的，或者说是“垃圾”DNA，在这里我认为TE诱导的基因调控是强有力的 由于通过研究单个TE来探索TE功能的历史趋势而被低估 彼此独立。我建议提供一个新的框架来研究 迄今为止，“垃圾”TE序列可以调节前-mRNA剪接来影响基因功能，并研究是否 这种机制可能会对人类的发展和进化产生重大影响，并有助于解释 人类疾病的遗传病因学。这一提议的灵感来自于我最近的发现，即 一对Alu反转录转座子之间的差异可能解释了人们长期寻求的尾部缺失进化的遗传基础 人类和类人猿。基于这项工作和我的初步数据，我将首先使用TBXT中的Alu对相互作用 基因作为模型来展示内含子之间的相互作用可以深刻地影响人类 发展与健康，并解释一种常见遗传病的病因(目标1)。目标2建议测试 Alu对相互作用诱导的TBXT异构体多向性贡献的假说 后肢的加强，从而直接检验了长期存在的假设，即尾巴损失在 类人猿与两足动物的运动进化有关(目标2)。超越Alu对的特定相互作用 在TBXT基因中，Aim 3将开发一种名为Teilo(转座元件相互作用和局部)的算法 组织)系统地确定影响基因功能和人类健康的功能性TE相互作用 通过调节选择性剪接。这项工作有望为研究相互作用提供一种新的范式 TES及其对人类健康和疾病的影响。

PROJECT SUMMARY One of the most surprising discoveries from the Human Genome Project is that only about 1.5% of the genome codes for proteins, whereas around 46% comprises transposable elements (TEs). Functional assessment of how these ubiquitous TEs affect human development and health has posed a major challenge. While most TEs are considered non-functional, or “junk” DNA, here I argue that TE-induced gene regulation is strongly underestimated due to the historical tendency to explore TE functionality by studying individual TEs independently of each other. I propose to provide a novel framework to study how interactions between the hitherto “junk” TE sequences can regulate pre-mRNA splicing to affect gene function, and investigate whether such a mechanism could substantially affect both human development and evolution, and help explain the genetic etiology of human diseases. This proposal is inspired from my recent discovery that the interaction between a pair of Alu retrotransposons may explain the long-sought genetic basis for the evolution of tail loss in human and apes. Based on this work and my preliminary data, I will first use the Alu pair interaction in TBXT gene as a model to demonstrate that the interaction between intronic TEs can profoundly impact human development and health, and explain the etiology of a common genetic disease (Aim 1). Aim 2 proposes to test the hypothesis that the isoform of TBXT induced by interaction of the Alu pair pleiotropically contributes to strengthening of hindlimbs, thus directly testing the long-standing hypothesis that the tail-loss evolution in hominoids is associated with bipedal locomotion evolution (Aim 2). Beyond the specific interaction of the Alu pair in the TBXT gene, Aim 3 will develop an algorithm called TEILO (Transposable Element Interaction & Local Organization) to systematically identify the functional TE interactions that affect gene function and human health by modulating alternative splicing. This work promises to provide a new paradigm to studying the interaction between TEs and its implication to human health and diseases.