ESRP2 Regulates A Conserved And Cell-Type-Specific Splicing Program to Support Postnatal Liver Maturation

Alternative splicing greatly expands the proteomic diversity but its functional impact is often unclear. Here, we identify a highly conserved and temporally coordinated cell-type-specific splicing program, which is activated in part by ESRP2 during postnatal liver development. Consistent with failure of many neonatal-to-adult splicing transitions, Esrp2 null mice exhibit persistent expression of fetal markers and loss of mature hepatocyte characteristics. Conversely, ectopic expression of ESRP2 in immature mouse or human hepatocytes results in a reciprocal switch in splicing. Our findings define an essential role for ESRP2 in generation of conserved repertoires of adult splice isoforms that facilitate postnatal liver maturation. Mouse liver RNA was isolated with Trizol (Invitrogen). Hi-Seq libraries were prepared and paired-end 100bp Illumina sequencing was performed on mouse liver samples from different developmental stages.