bims-micpro 2022-03-20 papers

Issue of 2022‒03‒20
three papers selected by
Thomas Farid Martínez
University of California, Irvine

J Biomed Sci. 2022 Mar 17. 29(1): 19

Short open reading frames (sORFs) and microproteins: an update on their identification and validation measures.

Alyssa Zi-Xin Leong, Pey Yee Lee, M Aiman Mohtar, Saiful Effendi Syafruddin, Yuh-Fen Pung, Teck Yew Low.

A short open reading frame (sORFs) constitutes ≤ 300 bases, encoding a microprotein or sORF-encoded protein (SEP) which comprises ≤ 100 amino acids. Traditionally dismissed by genome annotation pipelines as meaningless noise, sORFs were found to possess coding potential with ribosome profiling (RIBO-Seq), which unveiled sORF-based transcripts at various genome locations. Nonetheless, the existence of corresponding microproteins that are stable and functional was little substantiated by experimental evidence initially. With recent advancements in multi-omics, the identification, validation, and functional characterisation of sORFs and microproteins have become feasible. In this review, we discuss the history and development of an emerging research field of sORFs and microproteins. In particular, we focus on an array of bioinformatics and OMICS approaches used for predicting, sequencing, validating, and characterizing these recently discovered entities. These strategies include RIBO-Seq which detects sORF transcripts via ribosome footprints, and mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics for sequencing the resultant microproteins. Subsequently, our discussion extends to the functional characterisation of microproteins by incorporating CRISPR/Cas9 screen and protein-protein interaction (PPI) studies. Our review discusses not only detection methodologies, but we also highlight on the challenges and potential solutions in identifying and validating sORFs and their microproteins. The novelty of this review lies within its validation for the functional role of microproteins, which could contribute towards the future landscape of microproteomics.

Keywords: Mass spectrometry; Microproteins; Proteogenomics; Ribosome profiling (RIBO-Seq); Short open reading frame (sORF); Small open reading frame (smORF)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-022-00802-5

Methods Mol Biol. 2022 ;2405 63-82

Exploring the Peptide Potential of Genomes.

Chris Papadopoulos, Nicolas Chevrollier, Anne Lopes.

Recent studies attribute a central role to the noncoding genome in the emergence of novel genes. The widespread transcription of noncoding regions and the pervasive translation of the resulting RNAs offer to the organisms a vast reservoir of novel peptides. Although the majority of these peptides are anticipated as deleterious or neutral, and thereby expected to be degraded right away or short-lived in evolutionary history, some of them can confer an advantage to the organism. The latter can be further subjected to natural selection and be established as novel genes. In any case, characterizing the structural properties of these pervasively translated peptides is crucial to understand (1) their impact on the cell and (2) how some of these peptides, derived from presumed noncoding regions, can give rise to structured and functional de novo proteins. Therefore, we present a protocol that aims to explore the potential of a genome to produce novel peptides. It consists in annotating all the open reading frames (ORFs) of a genome (i.e., coding and noncoding ones) and characterizing the fold potential and other structural properties of their corresponding potential peptides. Here, we apply our protocol to a small genome and show how to apply it to very large genomes. Finally, we present a case study which aims to probe the fold potential of a set of 721 translated ORFs in mouse lncRNAs, identified with ribosome profiling experiments. Interestingly, we show that the distribution of their fold potential is different from that of the nontranslated lncRNAs and more generally from the other noncoding ORFs of the mouse.

Keywords: De novo genes; Fold potential; Noncoding DNA; ORFold; ORFtrack; Small ORF-encoded peptides

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1855-4_3

Front Mol Biosci. 2022 ;9 842261

Thinking Outside the Frame: Impacting Genomes Capacity by Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting.

Ricarda J Riegger, Neva Caliskan.

Translation facilitates the transfer of the genetic information stored in the genome via messenger RNAs to a functional protein and is therefore one of the most fundamental cellular processes. Programmed ribosomal frameshifting is a ubiquitous alternative translation event that is extensively used by viruses to regulate gene expression from overlapping open reading frames in a controlled manner. Recent technical advances in the translation field enabled the identification of precise mechanisms as to how and when ribosomes change the reading frame on mRNAs containing cis-acting signals. Several studies began also to illustrate that trans-acting RNA modulators can adjust the timing and efficiency of frameshifting illuminating that frameshifting can be a dynamically regulated process in cells. Here, we intend to summarize these new findings and emphasize how it fits in our current understanding of PRF mechanisms as previously described.

Keywords: RNA; frameshifting; ribosome; translation; translational regulation; viruses

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2022.842261