Abstract
How master splicing regulators crosstalk with each other and to what extent transcription regulators are differentially spliced remain unclear in the developing brain. Here, cell-type-specific RNA-Seq analyses of the developing neocortex uncover variable expression of the Rbfox1/2/3 genes and enriched splicing events in transcription regulators, altering protein isoforms or inducing nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Transient expression of Rbfox proteins in radial glial progenitors induces neuronal splicing events preferentially in transcription regulators such as Meis2 and Tead1. Surprisingly, Rbfox proteins promote the inclusion of a mammal-specific alternative exon and a previously undescribed poison exon in Ptbp1. Simultaneous ablation of Rbfox1/2/3 in the neocortex downregulates neuronal isoforms and disrupts radial neuronal migration. Furthermore, the progenitor isoform of Meis2 promotes Tgfb3 transcription, while the Meis2 neuron isoform promotes neuronal differentiation. These observations indicate that transcription regulators are differentially spliced between cell types in the developing neocortex. [The sex has not been reported to affect cortical neurogenesis in mice, and embryos of both sexes were studied without distinguishing one or the other.]
Significance Statement How alternative splicing regulates cell-type-specific gene expression in the developing neocortex remains understudied. Here, analyses of sorted cell types and single-cell long-reads uncover cell-type-specific splicing that is enriched in transcription regulators. Rbfox proteins, including the pan-neuronal marker NeuN/Rbfox3, preferentially switch splice forms of transcription regulators and are required for radial neuronal migration. We further show that the progenitor and neuron isoforms of a transcription regulator Meis2 function differently. Overall, this study suggests a cross-talk between alternative splicing and transcription for neuronal gene regulation.
Footnotes
The authors would like to thank all lab members for their valuable input, and thank colleagues in the Department of Human Genetics, the Neuroscience Institute, and the DevNeuro group for their support. The long-read RNA-Seq was partially supported by the PacBio Iso-Seq SMRT Grant (2018). Works in the Zhang lab are supported by the NIGMS (DP2 GM137423, R35 GM152177) and the NIMH (R01 MH130594) to X.Z.
↵4Equal contributions
