Both subunits of U2AF recognize the 3′ splice site in Caenorhabditis elegans

Diego A. R. Zorio and Thomas Blumenthal ()
Additional contact information
Diego A. R. Zorio: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, UCHSC
Thomas Blumenthal: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, UCHSC

Nature, 1999, vol. 402, issue 6763, 835-838

Abstract: Abstract Introns are defined by sequences that bind components of the splicing machinery. The branchpoint consensus, polypyrimidine (poly(Y)) tract, and AG at the splice boundary comprise the mammalian 3′ splice site1. Although the AG is crucial for the recognition of introns with relatively short poly(Y) tracts, which are termed ‘AG-dependent introns’2, the molecule responsible for AG recognition has never been identified. A key player in 3′ splice site definition is the essential heterodimeric splicing factor U2AF, which facilitates the interaction of the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle with the branch point. The U2AF subunit with a relative molecular mass (Mr 65K) of 65,000 (U2AF65) binds to the poly(Y) tract3,4,5,6,7, whereas the role of the 35K subunit (U2AF35)8 has not been clearly defined. It is not required for splicing in vitro4 but it plays a critical role in vivo9,10. Caenorhabiditis elegans introns have a highly conserved U4CAG/R at their 3′ splice sites instead of branch-point and poly(Y) consensus sequences11. Nevertheless, C. elegans has U2AF (refs 10, 12). Here we show that both U2AF subunits crosslink to the 3′ splice site. Our results suggest that the U2AF65–U2AF35 complex identifies the U4CAG/R, with U2AF35 being responsible for recognition of the canonical AG.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/45597 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:402:y:1999:i:6763:d:10.1038_45597

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/45597

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().