Alternative polyadenylation regulates the translation of metabolic and inflammation-related proteins in adipose tissue of gestational diabetes mellitus

Bingnan Chen; Xuyang Chen; Ruohan Hu; Hongli Li; Min Wang; Linwei Zhou; Hao Chen; Jianqi Wang; Hanwen Zhang; Xiaobo Zhou; Hua Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.csbj.2024.03.013

Alternative polyadenylation regulates the translation of metabolic and inflammation-related proteins in adipose tissue of gestational diabetes mellitus

Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2024 Mar 15:23:1298-1310. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.03.013. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Authors

Bingnan Chen^{1

2

3}, Xuyang Chen^{1

2}, Ruohan Hu⁴, Hongli Li^{1

2}, Min Wang^{1

2

3}, Linwei Zhou^{1

2}, Hao Chen^{1

2}, Jianqi Wang^{1

2}, Hanwen Zhang^{1

2}, Xiaobo Zhou^{1

2}, Hua Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Maternal and Fetal Medicine of Chongqing Municipality, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
³ The Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Major Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁴ Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Abstract

In gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), adipose tissue undergoes metabolic disturbances and chronic low-grade inflammation. Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is a post-transcriptional modification mechanism that generates mRNA with variable lengths of 3' untranslated regions (3'UTR), and it is associated with inflammation and metabolism. However, the role of APA in GDM adipose tissue has not been well characterized. In this study, we conducted transcriptomic and proteomic sequencing on subcutaneous and omental adipose tissues from both control and GDM patients. Using Dapars, a novel APA quantitative algorithm, we delineated the APA landscape of adipose tissue, revealing significant 3'UTR elongation of mRNAs in the GDM group. Omental adipose tissue exhibited a significant correlation between elongated 3'UTRs and reduced translation levels of genes related to metabolism and inflammation. Validation experiments in THP-1 derived macrophages (TDMs) demonstrated the impact of APA on translation levels by overexpressing long and short 3'UTR isoforms of a representative gene LRRC25. Additionally, LRRC25 was validated to suppress proinflammatory polarization in TDMs. Further exploration revealed two underexpressed APA trans-acting factors, CSTF3 and PPP1CB, in GDM omental adipose tissue. In conclusion, this study provides preliminary insights into the APA landscape of GDM adipose tissue. Reduced APA regulation in GDM omental adipose tissue may contribute to metabolic disorders and inflammation by downregulating gene translation levels. These findings advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying GDM-associated adipose tissue changes.

Keywords: Adipose tissue; Alternative polyadenylation; Gestational diabetes mellitus; Inflammation; Metabolic disorders; Proteomics; Transcriptomics.