Expression of the thyroid hormone receptor gene, erbAα, in B lymphocytes: Alternative mRNA processing is independent of differentiation but correlates with antisense RNA levels

Michelle L. Hastings, Christine Milcarek, Kathlee Martincic, Martha L. Peterson, Stephen H. Munroe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

97 Scopus citations

Abstract

The erbAα gene encodes two α-thyroid hormone receptor isoforms, TRα1 and TRα2, which arise from alternatively processed mRNAs, erbAα1 (α1) and erb α2 (α2). The splicing and alternative polyadenylation patterns of these mRNAs resemble that of mRNAs encoding different forms of immunoglobulin heavy chains, which are regulated at the level of alternative processing during B cell differentiation. This study examines the levels of erbAα mRNA in eight B cell lines representing four stages of differentiation in order to determine whether regulation of the alternatively processed α1 and α2 mRNAs parallels the processing of immunoglobulin heavy chain mRNAs. Results show that the pattern of α1 and α2 mRNA expression is clearly different from that observed for immunoglobulin heavy chain mRNAs. B cell lines display characteristic ratios of α1/α2 mRNA at distinct stages of differentiation. Furthermore, expression of an overlapping gene, Rev-ErbAα (RevErb), was found to correlate strongly with an increase in the ratio of α1/α2 mRNA. These results suggest that alternative processing of erbAα mRNAs is regulated by a mechanism which is distinct from that regulating immunoglobulin mRNA. The correlation between RevErb and erbAα mRNA is consistent with negative regulation of α2 via antisense interactions with the complementary RevErb mRNA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4296-4300
Number of pages5
JournalNucleic Acids Research
Volume25
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 1997

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants #DK48034 to S.H.M. and #GM50145 to C.M. and a National Science Foundation grant #MCB-9507513 to M.L.P. M.L.H. was supported by a pre-doctoral fellowship from the Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Expression of the thyroid hormone receptor gene, erbAα, in B lymphocytes: Alternative mRNA processing is independent of differentiation but correlates with antisense RNA levels'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this