Transcriptome-wide mapping of RNA:protein interactions of CPSF5 and FIP1 in P19 cells by iCLIP

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) refers to the regulated selection of polyadenylation sites (PASs) in transcripts, which determines the length of their 3’ untranslated regions (3’UTRs). APA regulates stage- and tissue-specific gene expression by affecting the stability, subcellular localization and translation rate of transcripts. We have recently shown that SRSF3 and SRSF7, two closely related SR proteins, connect APA with mRNA export. The mechanism underlying APA regulation by SRSF3 and SRSF7 remained, however, unknown. Here, we combined iCLIP, RNA-Seq and 3’-end sequencing to find that both proteins bind upstream of proximal PASs (pPASs), yet they exert opposite effects on 3’UTR length. We show that SRSF7 enhances pPAS usage in a concentration-dependent but splicing-independent manner by recruiting the cleavage factor FIP1, thereby generating short 3’UTRs. Protein domains unique to SRSF7, which are absent from SRSF3, and hypo-phosphorylation contribute to FIP1 recruitment. In contrast, SRSF3 promotes distal PAS (dPAS) usage and hence long 3’UTRs by maintaining high levels of cleavage factor Im (CFIm) via alternative splicing. Upon reduced expression of SRSF3, CFIm levels strongly decrease and 3’UTRs are globally shortened. In SRSF3-regulated transcripts, CFIm and FIP1 bind upstream of dPASs and promote their usage. Surprisingly, both factors are also recruited to pPASs under conditions where their usage is blocked, suggesting the formation of inactive cleavage complexes. Thus, we identify SRSF3 as a novel regulator of CFIm activity, provide evidence that CFIm inhibits pPAS usage and show that small differences in the domain architecture of SR proteins confer opposite effects on PAS selection. We used P19 cells that express GFP-tagged CPSF5 and FIP1 at physiological levels and compared their binding pattern on distal, proximal and single PAS. For this we performed iCLIP using anti-GFP antibodies. For each GFP-tagged SRSF7 protein, 2-3 biological replicates were subjected to the iCLIP procedure with UV-crosslinking at 254 nm. For IPs either an anti-GFP antibody was used or an anti-SRSF7 antibody.