2. Academic Validation
  3. A micropeptide encoded by a putative long noncoding RNA regulates muscle performance

A micropeptide encoded by a putative long noncoding RNA regulates muscle performance

  • Cell. 2015 Feb 12;160(4):595-606. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.01.009.
Douglas M Anderson 1,  Kelly M Anderson 1,  Chi-Lun Chang 2,  Catherine A Makarewich 1,  Benjamin R Nelson 1,  John R McAnally 1,  Prasad Kasaragod 3,  John M Shelton 4,  Jen Liou 2,  Rhonda Bassel-Duby 1,  Eric N Olson 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA; Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
  • 2 Department of Physiology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
  • 3 Department of Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
  • 4 Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
  • 5 Department of Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA; Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 25640239 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.01.009
Abstract

Functional micropeptides can be concealed within RNAs that appear to be noncoding. We discovered a conserved micropeptide, which we named myoregulin (MLN), encoded by a skeletal muscle-specific RNA annotated as a putative long noncoding RNA. MLN shares structural and functional similarity with phospholamban (PLN) and sarcolipin (SLN), which inhibit SERCA, the membrane pump that controls muscle relaxation by regulating Ca(2+) uptake into the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). MLN interacts directly with SERCA and impedes Ca(2+) uptake into the SR. In contrast to PLN and SLN, which are expressed in cardiac and slow skeletal muscle in mice, MLN is robustly expressed in all skeletal muscle. Genetic deletion of MLN in mice enhances Ca(2+) handling in skeletal muscle and improves exercise performance. These findings identify MLN as an important regulator of skeletal muscle physiology and highlight the possibility that additional micropeptides are encoded in the many RNAs currently annotated as noncoding.

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