Transcriptome and proteome quantification of a tumor model provides novel insights into post-transcriptional gene regulation

Genome-wide transcriptome analyses have allowed for systems- level insights into gene regulatory networks. Due to the limited depth of quantitative proteomics, however, our understanding of post-transcriptional gene regulation and its effects on protein complex stoichiometry are lagging behind. Here, we employ deep sequencing and iTRAQ technology to determine transcript and protein expression changes of a Drosophila brain tumour model at near genome-wide resolution. In total, we quantify more than 6,200 tissue-specific proteins, corresponding to about 70% of all transcribed protein-coding genes. Using our integrated data set, we demonstrate that post-transcriptional gene regulation varies considerably with biological function and is surprisingly high for genes regulating transcription. We combine our quantitative data with protein-protein interaction data and show that post-transcriptional mechanisms significantly enhance co-regulation of protein complex subunits beyond transcriptional co-regulation. Interestingly, our results suggest that only about 11% of the annotated Drosophila protein complexes are co-regulated in the brain. Finally, we refine the composition of some of these core protein complexes by analysing the co-regulation of potential subunits. Our comprehensive transcriptome and proteome data provide a rich resource for quantitative biology and offer novel insights into understanding post- transcriptional gene regulation in a tumour model. Overall design: Transcriptomes of 1-3 day old adult female Drosophila melanogaster heads of control and brat mutant were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate, using Illumina GAIIx.