Josie Gleeson from The University of Melbourne in Australia presented at London Calling 2023 about “Integrating the transcriptome and epitranscriptome of the human brain using direct RNA sequencing.” They spoke about the advantages of direct RNA sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologies: you obtain splicing patterns, isoform quantification, polyA tail length, modified nucleotides, and novel exon/intron connections. The brain, said Gleeson, has complex regulation including RNA splicing. Modified transcripts such as m6A also occur. Gleeson explained that m6A is the most abundant RNA modification and identified in the brain. The aim was to apply direct RNA sequencing to three brain regions to determine m6A modification of isoforms. Four post-mortem samples were analyzed on a PromethION device. The results showed “widespread changes in isoform expression between brain regions” and enrichment of m6A near the stop codon and UTRs. Gleeson and team identified common and specific m6A modification of genes in different brain regions. I continue finding more people doing direct RNA sequencing and learning about modifications. I am intrigued by what we will find doing this in bacteria.
