Discovery of Plasma Membrane-Associated RNAs through APEX-seq

• Published in: Cell biochemistry and biophysics 2021-12, Vol.79 (4), p.905-917
• Main Authors: Wu, Erzhong, Guo, Xuzhen, Teng, Xueyi, Zhang, Ruijin, Li, Fahui, Cui, Ya, Zhang, Dongdong, Liu, Qinghua, Luo, Jianjun, Wang, Jiangyun, Chen, Runsheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Apexes; Biochemistry; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomolecules; Biophysics; Biotechnology; Cell Biology; Cell Membrane - metabolism; HeLa Cells; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humans; Life Sciences; Mammalian cells; Membrane vesicles; Membranes; Next-generation sequencing; Nucleic acids; Original Paper; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Plasma; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA - genetics; RNA - metabolism; RNA, Long Noncoding - genetics; RNA, Long Noncoding - metabolism; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Sphingomyelin; Sphingomyelins - metabolism
• ISSN: 1085-9195; 1559-0283; 1559-0283
• DOI: 10.1007/s12013-021-00991-0

In addition to nucleic acids, a variety of other biomolecules have also been found on the plasma membrane. Although researchers have realized that RNA has the ability to bind to membrane vesicles in vitro, little is known about whether and how RNA connects to the plasma membrane of the cell. The combination of high-throughput sequencing and in situ labeling methods provides an innovative approach for large-scale identification of subcellular RNAs. Here, we applied the recently published method APEX-seq and identified 75 RNAs related to the plasma membrane, in which lncRNA PMAR72 (plasma membrane-associated RNA AL121772.1) has a considerable affinity with sphingomyelin (SM) and localizes within distinct membrane foci. Our findings will provide some new evidence to elaborate the relationship between RNA and the plasma membrane of mammalian cells.