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GENE REGULATION

The origin of neural microexons

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 3, pages 526–527 (2019)Cite this article

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Comparative analysis of microexons across bilaterians identifies a new protein domain associated with the evolutionary origin of microexon inclusion in neural tissues.

Microexons have played a central role in the evolution of biology’s most impressive innovation: the vertebrate brain. They can be as short as three nucleotides and normally lead to the addition of only one or a few amino acids into the encoded proteins, which have diverse cellular functions, including vesicle transport, cytoskeleton organization, and chromatin regulation1. Most microexons are exclusively included in neuronal tissues, where they play a crucial role in development and maintenance of neuronal functions1,2. Notably, misregulation of activity-dependent splicing of microexons contributes to autism1,3,4. Consistent with their functional importance, neural microexons are evolutionarily conserved, yet their evolutionary origin remains poorly understood.

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Fig. 1: The evolutionary origins of neuronal microexons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

    Rupert Faraway & Jernej Ule

  2. Department for Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK

    Rupert Faraway & Jernej Ule

Authors
  1. Rupert Faraway
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  2. Jernej Ule
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Correspondence to Jernej Ule.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Faraway, R., Ule, J. The origin of neural microexons. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 526–527 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0818-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0818-1

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