Wild type vs. Nova2 KO mouse P10 cortex RNA

To assess the requirement of Nova2 for alternative processing of RNA in mouse brain. Protein-RNA interactions play critical roles in all aspects of gene expression. Here we develop a genome-wide means of mapping protein-RNA binding sites in vivo, by high throughput sequencing of RNA isolated by crosslinking immunoprecipitation (HITS-CLIP). HITS-CLIP analysis of the neuron-specific splicing factor Nova2 revealed extremely reproducible RNA binding maps in multiple mouse brains. These maps provide genome-wide in vivo biochemical footprints confirming the previous prediction that the position of Nova binding determines the outcome of alternative splicing; moreover, they are sufficiently powerful to predict Nova action de novo. HITS-CLIP revealed a large number of Nova-RNA interactions in 3’ UTRs, leading to the discovery that Nova regulates alternative polyadenylation in the brain. HITS-CLIP, therefore, provides a robust, unbiased means to identify functional protein-RNA interactions in vivo. This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.