Structure and Function of the Pre-mRNA Splicing Machine

Joseph Sperling, Maia Azubel, Ruth Sperling*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most eukaryotic pre-mRNAs contain non-coding sequences (introns) that must be removed in order to accurately place the coding sequences (exons) in the correct reading frame. This critical regulatory pre-mRNA splicing event is fundamental in development and cancer. It occurs within a mega-Dalton multicomponent machine composed of RNA and proteins, which undergoes dynamic changes in RNA-RNA, RNA-protein, and protein-protein interactions during the splicing reaction. Recent years have seen progress in functional and structural analyses of the splicing machine and its subcomponents, and this review is focused on structural aspects of the pre-mRNA splicing machine and their mechanistic implications on the splicing of multi-intronic pre-mRNAs. It brings together, in a comparative manner, structural information on spliceosomes and their intermediates in the stepwise assembly process in vitro, and on the preformed supraspliceosomes, which are isolated from living cell nuclei, with a view of portraying a consistent picture.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1605-1615
Number of pages11
JournalStructure
Volume16
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Nov 2008

Keywords

  • RNA

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