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Short Communication |


Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
Correspondence
Pundi N. Rangarajan
pnr{at}biochem.iisc.ernet.in
| ABSTRACT |
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A schematic representation of the AK028745 cDNA is available as supplementary material in JGV Online.
These authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
| MAIN TEXT |
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Infection of vertebrate cells by viruses results in dramatic changes in the host transcriptome and these changes can be either detrimental or beneficial to the virus. Availability of mammalian genome-sequence data and microarray technologies have led to the discovery of common host genes involved in the antiviral response and unique host genes that can serve as biomarkers' of a specific virus infection, as well as several unannotated, virus-inducible host genes of unknown function (Jenner & Young, 2005
). By using the subtraction-hybridization technique, we previously identified several Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV)- and Rabies virus-inducible mouse central nervous system (CNS) genes (Saha & Rangarajan, 2003
). Further screening of the subtracted cDNA library led to the identification of many more JEV-inducible genes (S. Saha & P. N. Rangarajan, unpublished data) and one of them, designated clone #150, had >99 % identity to a mouse neonate skin cDNA (GenBank accession no. AK028745
[GenBank]
) as well as several murine cDNAs expressed in neuronal and non-neuronal tissues and mammary tumours, all of which are annotated as transcripts of unknown function (Fig. 1a
). A detailed study was therefore undertaken to characterize this gene further. RNA was isolated from normal or JEV-infected outbred Swiss mice (Saha & Rangarajan, 2003
) and Northern blot analysis was carried out with a radiolabelled clone #150 cDNA probe. An approximately 3.1 kb transcript was detectable in JEV-infected, but not in normal, mouse brain in Northern blots (Fig. 1b
), which matched the size of a mouse neonate skin cDNA clone (3180 bp) described in GenBank (accession no. AK028745
[GenBank]
). A series of experiments confirmed that the JEV-inducible RNA in mouse brain is the same as that encoded by the AK028745
[GenBank]
cDNA, as indicated below. The regions corresponding to bp 8011730 (probe A) and bp 23583169 (probe B) of the AK028745
[GenBank]
cDNA could be amplified from JEV-infected mouse brain RNA by RT-PCR using primer pairs 5'-CTCACTCTGAGGTTAAGGGG-3' and 5'-TAACTTGCGCCTTCCCACTG-3' (for probe A) and 5'-CCCTGACCTAGGCAGGCCAC-3' and 5'-CTCAAACCTTTATTTTGCTGTAAAGGG-3' (for probe B), designed based on the nucleotide sequence of GenBank accession no. AK028745
[GenBank]
. These PCR products, when used as radiolabelled probes, hybridized to the same mRNA species in the JEV-infected mouse brain as did the clone #150 cDNA (Fig. 1b
). We also generated digoxigenin (DIG)-labelled strand-specific riboprobes based on the nucleotide sequence with GenBank no. AK028745
[GenBank]
and the results presented in Fig. 1(c)
indicate that only the antisense riboprobe hybridizes to an approximately 3.1 kb transcript in Northern blots of JEV-infected mouse brain RNA. Further, an approximately 3.1 kb RT-PCR product could be obtained from JEV-infected mouse-brain RNA (Fig. 1d
, lane 2) by using primer pair 5'-GAGGAGTTAGTGACAAGGAGGGC-3' and 5'-CTCAAACCTTTATTTTGCTGTAAAGGG-3', corresponding to the 5' and 3' ends of the AK028745
[GenBank]
cDNA, and the nucleotide sequence of the PCR product was identical to the reported sequence of the AK028745
[GenBank]
cDNA (data not shown). Based on these results, we concluded that the 3180 bp mouse neonate skin mRNA represented by GenBank accession no. AK028745
[GenBank]
and the JEV-inducible mouse-brain transcript hybridizing to clone #150 described in this study are identical.
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Analysis of the AK028745
[GenBank]
cDNA sequence for an open reading frame (ORF), using an ORF search tool (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gorf/gorf.html), indicated that the mRNA is unlikely to encode a protein, as no significant ORFs could be detected in the GenBank AK028745
[GenBank]
nucleotide sequence (see Supplementary Fig. S1, available in JGV Online). Also, no major ORFs are detectable in the other murine cDNAs listed in Fig. 1(a)
(data not shown). Thus, the AK028745
[GenBank]
cDNA and other related cDNAs appear to be non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and, in view of the upregulation of the former in mouse brain during virus infection, it was named virus-inducible ncRNA (VINC).
As several transcripts identical to VINC have been reported from non-neuronal tissues and mammary tumours (Fig. 1a
), we examined VINC expression in multiple mouse tissues by RNA dot-blot analysis using a Mouse RNA Master Blot kit (catalogue no. 7770-1; Clontech). The results demonstrate that VINC is expressed constitutively at high levels in several adult tissues, such as liver, lung, kidney, heart and skeletal muscle, as well as in 7-day-old mouse embryo, but not in late embryonic stages, adult brain or testis (Fig. 2a
). These results were further confirmed by Northern blot analysis of selected mouse tissues. A transcript similar in size to that induced in JEV-infected mouse brain is expressed at high levels in heart, kidney, liver and muscle, but not brain or testis (Fig. 2b
).
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Our studies demonstrate that VINC is expressed constitutively in a number of non-neuronal tissues, as well as during early embryonic development (Fig. 2
). These results are comparable to the expression profile of AK028745
[GenBank]
and other cDNAs of the Mm281895 unigene cluster reported in computational databases (http://symatlas.gnf.org/SymAtlas/, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/UniGene/ESTProfileViewer.cgi?uglist=Mm.281895). Constitutive expression of VINC in adult mouse kidney led us to examine its expression in the RAG mouse renal adenocarcinoma cell line. The results indicate that not only is VINC expressed constitutively in this cell line, but the transcript is detectable only in the nuclear and not the cytosolic RNA (Fig. 3
). Thus, VINC is a novel member of the nuclear ncRNA family, which includes transcripts such as Xist (Brockdorff et al., 1992
), TUG-1 (Young et al., 2005
), EVF-1 (Kohtz & Fishell, 2004
), Ks-1 (Sawata et al., 2002
), NTT (Liu et al., 1997
), Khps-1 (Imamura et al., 2004
), PAT-1 (Chao et al., 1998
) and rOX-1 and -2 (Franke & Baker, 1999
).
Although ncRNAs are shown to carry out a number of functions, the cellular roles of several ncRNAs still remain unknown (Storz, 2002
). The first step towards understanding the function(s) of ncRNAs is to study their spatial- and temporal-expression patterns and develop a suitable experimental system for carrying out functional studies. Thus, the identification of VINC in mouse brain and demonstration of its nuclear localization in a cell line should pave the way for further functional characterization of this novel ncRNA.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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Received 16 December 2005;
accepted 2 March 2006.
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