Abstract
As a class of powerful molecular tool, antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are not only broadly used in protein and RNA biology, but also a highly selective therapeutic strategy for many diseases. Although the concept that ASO reagents only reduce expression of the targeted gene in a post-transcriptional manner has long been established, the effect and mechanism of ASO reagents on RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription are largely unknown. This raised question is particularly important for the appropriate use of ASOs and the valid interpretation of ASO-mediated experiments. In this study, our results show that linear RNA ASO attenuates transcription of nascent transcripts by inducing premature transcription termination which is combinatorially controlled by Integrator, exosome, and Rat1 in Drosophila. However, circular RNA (circRNA) ASO transfection does not affect transcription activity of the encoded gene. These data suggest that the ASO technique can be applied to study a circRNA-mediated but not linear RNA-mediated function for its encoded gene locus.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China (cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0085), the Innovation Support Program for Overseas Returned Scholars of Chongqing, China (cx2019142), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (2020CDJQY-A076), and the 100 Talent Program of Chongqing University (0304001104433). We thank the members of Xu Lab (Chongqing University) and Dr. Patricia Miele (University of Pennsylvania) for discussions, proofreading or technical supports.
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Antisense oligonucleotide technology can be used to investigate a circular but not linear RNA-mediated function for its encoded gene locus
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Song, Z., Jia, R., Tang, M. et al. Antisense oligonucleotide technology can be used to investigate a circular but not linear RNA-mediated function for its encoded gene locus. Sci. China Life Sci. 64, 784–794 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-020-1743-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-020-1743-8