Searching across hundreds of databases

Our searching services are busy right now. Your search will reload in five seconds.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

Characterization of human pseudogene-derived non-coding RNAs for functional potential.

PloS one | 2014

Thousands of pseudogenes exist in the human genome and many are transcribed, but their functional potential remains elusive and understudied. To explore these issues systematically, we first developed a computational pipeline to identify transcribed pseudogenes from RNA-Seq data. Applying the pipeline to datasets from 16 distinct normal human tissues identified ∼ 3,000 pseudogenes that could produce non-coding RNAs in a manner of low abundance but high tissue specificity under normal physiological conditions. Cross-tissue comparison revealed that the transcriptional profiles of pseudogenes and their parent genes showed mostly positive correlations, suggesting that pseudogene transcription could have a positive effect on the expression of their parent genes, perhaps by functioning as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), as previously suggested and demonstrated with the PTEN pseudogene, PTENP1. Our analysis of the ENCODE project data also found many transcriptionally active pseudogenes in the GM12878 and K562 cell lines; moreover, it showed that many human pseudogenes produced small RNAs (sRNAs) and some pseudogene-derived sRNAs, especially those from antisense strands, exhibited evidence of interfering with gene expression. Further integrated analysis of transcriptomics and epigenomics data, however, demonstrated that trimethylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me3), a posttranslational modification typically associated with gene repression and heterochromatin, was enriched at many transcribed pseudogenes in a transcription-level dependent manner in the two cell lines. The H3K9me3 enrichment was more prominent in pseudogenes that produced sRNAs at pseudogene loci and their adjacent regions, an observation further supported by the co-enrichment of SETDB1 (a H3K9 methyltransferase), suggesting that pseudogene sRNAs may have a role in regional chromatin repression. Taken together, our comprehensive and systematic characterization of pseudogene transcription uncovers a complex picture of how pseudogene ncRNAs could influence gene and pseudogene expression, at both epigenetic and post-transcriptional levels.

Pubmed ID: 24699680 RIS Download

Associated grants

  • Agency: NIMH NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R21 MH099452
  • Agency: NIMH NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R21MH099452

Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.

This is a list of tools and resources that we have found mentioned in this publication.


Ensembl (tool)

RRID:SCR_002344

Collection of genome databases for vertebrates and other eukaryotic species with DNA and protein sequence search capabilities. Used to automatically annotate genome, integrate this annotation with other available biological data and make data publicly available via web. Ensembl tools include BLAST, BLAT, BioMart and the Variant Effect Predictor (VEP) for all supported species.

View all literature mentions

International HapMap Project (tool)

RRID:SCR_002846

THIS RESOURCE IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE, documented August 22, 2016. A multi-country collaboration among scientists and funding agencies to develop a public resource where genetic similarities and differences in human beings are identified and catalogued. Using this information, researchers will be able to find genes that affect health, disease, and individual responses to medications and environmental factors. All of the information generated by the Project will be released into the public domain. Their goal is to compare the genetic sequences of different individuals to identify chromosomal regions where genetic variants are shared. Public and private organizations in six countries are participating in the International HapMap Project. Data generated by the Project can be downloaded with minimal constraints. HapMap project related data, software, and documentation include: bulk data on genotypes, frequencies, LD data, phasing data, allocated SNPs, recombination rates and hotspots, SNP assays, Perlegen amplicons, raw data, inferred genotypes, and mitochondrial and chrY haplogroups; Generic Genome Browser software; protocols and information on assay design, genotyping and other protocols used in the project; and documentation of samples/individuals and the XML format used in the project.

View all literature mentions

ArrayExpress (tool)

RRID:SCR_002964

International functional genomics data collection generated from microarray or next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms. Repository of functional genomics data supporting publications. Provides genes expression data for reuse to the research community where they can be queried and downloaded. Integrated with the Gene Expression Atlas and the sequence databases at the European Bioinformatics Institute. Contains a subset of curated and re-annotated Archive data which can be queried for individual gene expression under different biological conditions across experiments. Data collected to MIAME and MINSEQE standards. Data are submitted by users or are imported directly from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus.

View all literature mentions

ENCODE (tool)

RRID:SCR_006793

Encyclopedia of DNA elements consisting of list of functional elements in human genome, including elements that act at protein and RNA levels, and regulatory elements that control cells and circumstances in which gene is active. Enables scientific and medical communities to interpret role of human genome in biology and disease. Provides identification of common cell types to facilitate integrative analysis and new experimental technologies based on high-throughput sequencing. Genome Browser containing ENCODE and Epigenomics Roadmap data. Data are available for entire human genome.

View all literature mentions

TargetScan (tool)

RRID:SCR_010845

Web tool to predict biological targets of miRNAs by searching for presence of conserved 8mer, 7mer and 6mer sites that match seed region of each miRNA. Nonconserved sites are also predicted and sites with mismatches in seed region that are compensated by conserved 3' pairing. Used to search for predicted microRNA targets in mammals.

View all literature mentions

Bowtie (tool)

RRID:SCR_005476

Software ultrafast memory efficient tool for aligning sequencing reads. Bowtie is short read aligner.

View all literature mentions

T-Coffee (tool)

RRID:SCR_011818

A multiple sequence alignment server which can align Protein, DNA and RNA sequences.

View all literature mentions

GENCODE (tool)

RRID:SCR_014966

Human and mouse genome annotation project which aims to identify all gene features in the human genome using computational analysis, manual annotation, and experimental validation.

View all literature mentions

GM12878 (tool)

RRID:CVCL_7526

Cell line GM12878 is a Transformed cell line with a species of origin Homo sapiens (Human)

View all literature mentions

K-562 (tool)

RRID:CVCL_0004

Cell line K-562 is a Cancer cell line with a species of origin Homo sapiens (Human)

View all literature mentions