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Diverse transcriptional initiation revealed by fine, large‐scale mapping of mRNA start sites
Author(s) -
Suzuki Yutaka,
Taira Hirotoshi,
Tsunoda Tatsuhiko,
MizushimaSugano Junko,
Sese Jun,
Hata Hiroko,
Ota Toshio,
Isogai Takao,
Tanaka Toshihiro,
Morishita Shinichi,
Okubo Kousaku,
Sakaki Yoshiyuki,
Nakamura Yusuke,
Suyama Akira,
Sugano Sumio
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1093/embo-reports/kve085
Subject(s) - messenger rna , gene , transcriptional regulation , biology , complementary dna , gene expression , promoter , regulation of gene expression , computational biology , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Determination of the mRNA start site is the first step in identifying the promoter region, which is of key importance for transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The ‘oligo‐capping’ method enabled us to introduce a sequence tag to the first base of an mRNA by replacing the cap structure of the mRNA. Using cDNA libraries made from oligo‐capped mRNAs, we could identify the transcriptional start site of an individual mRNA just by sequencing the 5′‐end of the cDNA. The fine mapping of transcriptional start sites was performed for 5880 mRNAs in 276 human genes. Contrary to our expectations, the majority of the genes showed a diverse distribution of transcriptional start sites. They were distributed over 61.7 bp with a standard deviation of 19.5. Our finding may reflect the dynamic nature of transcriptional initiation events of human genes in vivo .