ZCCHC8, the nuclear exosome targeting component, is mutated in familial pulmonary fibrosis and is required for telomerase RNA maturation

Dustin L. Gable, Valeriya Gaysinskaya, Christine C. Atik, C. Conover Talbot, Byunghak Kang, Susan E. Stanley, Elizabeth W. Pugh, Nuria Amat-Codina, Kara M. Schenk, Murat O. Arcasoy, Cory Brayton, Liliana Florea, Mary Armanios

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Short telomere syndromes manifest as familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; they are the most common premature aging disorders. We used genome-wide linkage to identify heterozygous loss of function of ZCCHC8, a zinc-knuckle containing protein, as a cause of autosomal dominant pulmonary fibrosis. ZCCHC8 associated with TR and was required for telomerase function. In ZCCHC8 knockout cells and in mutation carriers, genomically extended telomerase RNA (TR) accumulated at the expense of mature TR, consistent with a role for ZCCHC8 in mediating TR 3 end targeting to the nuclear RNA exosome. We generated Zcchc8-null mice and found that heterozygotes, similar to human mutation carriers, had TR insufficiency but an otherwise preserved transcriptome. In contrast, Zcchc8/− mice developed progressive and fatal neurodevelopmental pathology with features of a ciliopathy. The Zcchc8/− brain transcriptome was highly dysregulated, showing accumulation and 3 end misprocessing of other low-abundance RNAs, including those encoding cilia components as well as the intronless replication-dependent histones. Our data identify a novel cause of human short telomere syndromes-familial pulmonary fibrosis and uncover nuclear exosome targeting as an essential 3 end maturation mechanism that vertebrate TR shares with replication-dependent histones.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1381-1396
Number of pages16
JournalGenes and Development
Volume33
Issue number19-20
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2019

Keywords

  • Ciliopathy
  • Lung disease
  • Nuclear RNA exosome
  • RNA processing
  • Telomerase RNA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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