Tandem chimerism as a means to increase protein complexity in the human genome

Parra, Genis; Reymond, Alexandre; Dabbouseh, Noura; Dermitzakis, Emmanouil; Castelo, Robert; Thomson, T. M.; Antonarakis, Stylianos; Guigo, Roderic

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Title		Tandem chimerism as a means to increase protein complexity in the human genome
Authors		Parra, Genis Reymond, Alexandre Dabbouseh, Noura Dermitzakis, Emmanouil Castelo, Robert Thomson, T. M. Antonarakis, Stylianos Guigo, Roderic
Published in		Genome Research. 2006, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 37-44
Abstract		The "one-gene, one-protein" rule, coined by Beadle and Tatum, has been fundamental to molecular biology. The rule implies that the genetic complexity of an organism depends essentially on its gene number. The discovery, however, that alternative gene splicing and transcription are widespread phenomena dramatically altered our understanding of the genetic complexity of higher eukaryotic organisms; in these, a limited number of genes may potentially encode a much larger number of proteins. Here we investigate yet another phenomenon that may contribute to generate additional protein diversity. Indeed, by relying on both computational and experimental analysis, we estimate that at least 4%-5% of the tandem gene pairs in the human genome can be eventually transcribed into a single RNA sequence encoding a putative chimeric protein. While the functional significance of most of these chimeric transcripts remains to be determined, we provide strong evidence that this phenomenon does not correspond to mere technical artifacts and that it is a common mechanism with the potential of generating hundreds of additional proteins in the human genome.
Keywords		Gene Fusion/ genetics — Genome, Human/ genetics — Humans — RNA Splicing/ genetics — Transcription, Genetic/ genetics
Identifiers		DOI: 10.1101/gr.4145906 PMID: 16344564
Full text		Article - Limited access to UNIGE Other version: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1356127/pdf/0037.pdf
Structures		Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de médecine interne des spécialités
Citation (ISO format)		PARRA, Genis et al. Tandem chimerism as a means to increase protein complexity in the human genome. In: Genome Research, 2006, vol. 16, n° 1, p. 37-44. https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:8958