转录调节领域通常假设转录水平的变化反映了相应基因的转录状态的变化。虽然这个假设可能适用于大量的成绩单,相当大但仍未被识别的变异部分可能涉及RNA生命周期的其他步骤,这是过早的RNA的加工,和成熟RNA的降解。区分这些层需要互补的实验技术,例如RNA代谢标记或转录实验的阻断。尽管如此,过早和成熟RNA的分析,来自RNA-seq数据中的内含子和外显子读数计数,允许区分转录和转录后调节基因,虽然没有认识到参与转录后反应的具体步骤,这是处理,降解,或两者的组合。我们说明了INSPEcTR/Bioconductor软件包如何用于推断肝细胞癌的TCGARNA-seq样品中的转录后调控。
The field of transcriptional regulation generally assumes that changes in transcripts levels reflect changes in transcriptional status of the corresponding gene. While this assumption might hold true for a large population of transcripts, a considerable and still unrecognized fraction of the variation might involve other steps of the RNA lifecycle, that is the processing of the premature RNA, and degradation of the mature RNA. Discrimination between these layers requires complementary experimental techniques, such as RNA metabolic labeling or block of transcription experiments. Nonetheless, the analysis of the premature and mature RNA, derived from intronic and exonic read counts in RNA-seq data, allows distinguishing between transcriptionally and post-transcriptionally regulated genes, although not recognizing the specific step involved in the post-transcriptional response, that is processing, degradation, or a combination of the two. We illustrate how the INSPEcT R/Bioconductor package could be used to infer post-transcriptional regulation in TCGA RNA-seq samples for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.