The human splicing code reveals new insights into the genetic determinants of disease
Hui Y. Xiong, Babak Alipanahi, Leo J. Lee, Hannes Bretschneider, Daniele Merico, Ryan K. C. Yuen, Yimin Hua, Serge Gueroussov, Hamed S. Najafabadi, Timothy R. Hughes, Quaid Morris, Yoseph Barash, Adrian R. Krainer, Nebojsa Jojic, Stephen W. Scherer, Benjamin J. Blencowe, Brendan J. Frey- Multidisciplinary
Predicting defects in RNA splicing
Most eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are spliced to remove introns. Splicing generates uninterrupted open reading frames that can be translated into proteins. Splicing is often highly regulated, generating alternative spliced forms that code for variant proteins in different tissues. RNA-binding proteins that bind specific sequences in the mRNA regulate splicing. Xiong et al. develop a computational model that predicts splicing regulation for any mRNA sequence (see the Perspective by Guigó and Valcárcel). They use this to analyze more than half a million mRNA splicing sequence variants in the human genome. They are able to identify thousands of known disease-causing mutations, as well as many new disease candidates, including 17 new autism-linked genes.
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