ZC3H4 restricts non-coding transcription in human cells
- University of Exeter, United Kingdom
- Edinburgh University, United Kingdom
Abstract
The human genome encodes thousands of non-coding RNAs. Many of these terminate early and are then rapidly degraded, but how their transcription is restricted is poorly understood. In a screen for protein-coding gene transcriptional termination factors, we identified ZC3H4. Its depletion causes upregulation and extension of hundreds of unstable transcripts, particularly antisense RNAs and those transcribed from so-called super-enhancers. These loci are occupied by ZC3H4, suggesting that it directly functions in their transcription. Consistently, engineered tethering of ZC3H4 to reporter RNA promotes its degradation by the exosome. ZC3H4 is predominantly metazoan - interesting when considering its impact on enhancer RNAs that are less prominent in single-celled organisms. Finally, ZC3H4 loss causes a substantial reduction in cell proliferation, highlighting its overall importance. In summary, we identify ZC3H4 as playing an important role in restricting non-coding transcription in multi-cellular organisms.
Data availability
Sequencing data have been deposited in GEO under accession code GSE163015. All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. We include full excel spreadsheets representing gene lists and original mass spectrometry data.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine (N/A)
- Steven West
Wellcome Trust (WT107791/Z/15/Z)
- Steven West
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2021, Estell et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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ZC3H4 restricts non-coding transcription in human cells
eLife 10:e67305.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.67305
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