Isoform diversity as a complementary dimension of gene expression

Isoform diversity in 4,814 GTEx samples across 25 tissues is a distinct gene-expression dimension, separating tissues even when gene-level expression shows no differential changes.

• Why it matters: Gene-level analyses can hide how alternative splicing and transcription start/end choices diversify mRNA and protein isoforms, potentially obscuring tissue- and state-specific function.
• What they did: The study applied an adaptation of Shannon evenness to quantify isoform diversity, then compared it against gene-level abundance and whole-transcriptome diversity across tissues and during age and neuronal differentiation.
• The result: Isoform diversity shifts with age in a gene- and tissue-specific way, is strongest in brain, and increases during neuronal differentiation most notably in RNA processing and splicing genes.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.