The impact of Hnrnpl deficiency on transcriptional patterns of developing muscle cells

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) bind to RNA, regulating gene expression and splicing. HnRNP L contributes to muscle development and the pathogenesis of myotonic dystrophy. We hypothesized that hnRNP L regulates muscle expression and splicing patterns. Using nanopore long read transcriptome sequencing and qPCR analyses, we investigated the impact of Hnrnpl knockdown on myoblasts and knockdown of the orthologous gene smooth in Drosophila. Notch signaling genes and muscle-related genes were dysregulated in both models. Several genes had altered splicing patterns, including Lamp2, Fhl1, and Dtna. Our findings indicate that hnRNP L regulates muscle gene transcription. We demonstrate the capabilities of long read transcriptome sequencing to study muscle development. Future studies could examine therapeutic implications of hnRNP L regulation for muscle diseases. Nanopore long-read sequencing performed on extracted RNA of two replicates each of Hnrnpl-shRNA treated C2C12 myoblasts and scrambled control cells.