Work

Functional selection and systematic analysis of intronic splicing elements identify active sequence motifs and associated splicing factors

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: Despite the critical role of pre-mRNA splicing in generating proteomic diversity and regulating gene expression, the sequence composition and function of intronic splicing regulatory elements (ISREs) have not been well elucidated. Here, we employed a high-throughput in vivo Screening PLatform for Intronic Control Elements (SPLICE) to identify 125 unique ISRE sequences from a random nucleotide library in human cells. Bioinformatic analyses reveal consensus motifs that resemble splicing regulatory elements and binding sites for characterized splicing factors and that are enriched in the introns of naturally occurring spliced genes, supporting their biological relevance. In vivo characterization, including an RNAi silencing study, demonstrate that ISRE sequences can exhibit combinatorial regulatory activity and that multiple trans-acting factors are involved in the regulatory effect of a single ISRE. Our work provides an initial examination into the sequence characteristics and function of ISREs, providing an important contribution to the splicing code.

Source: Nucleic Acids Research

DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkq248

Authors: Stephanie J. Culler, Kevin G. Hoff, Rodger B. Voelker, J. Andrew Berglund, Christina D. Smolke

Institutions: California Institute of Technology, University of Oregon

Language: English

Topic: RNA Research and Splicing

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,992

Funders: National Science Foundation, California Institute of Technology, National Institutes of Health