Co-transcriptional splicing efficiency is a gene-specific feature that can be regulated by TGFβ.

Abstract

Differential splicing efficiency of specific introns is a mechanism that dramatically increases protein diversity, based on selection of alternative exons for the final mature mRNA. However, it is unclear whether splicing efficiency of introns within the same gene is coordinated and eventually regulated as a mechanism to control mature mRNA levels. Based on nascent chromatin-associated RNA-sequencing data, we now find that co-transcriptional splicing (CTS) efficiency tends to be similar between the different introns of a gene. We establish that two well-differentiated strategies for CTS efficiency exist, at the extremes of a gradient: short genes that produce high levels of pre-mRNA undergo inefficient splicing, while long genes with relatively low levels of pre-mRNA have an efficient splicing. Notably, we observe that genes with efficient CTS display a higher level of mature mRNA relative to their pre-mRNA levels. Further, we show that the TGFβ signal transduction pathway regulates the general CTS efficiency, causing changes in mature mRNA levels. Taken together, our data indicate that CTS efficiency is a gene-specific characteristic that can be regulated to control gene expression.