Inhibition of msl-2 splicing by Sex-lethal reveals interaction between U2AF35 and the 3′ splice site AG

Livia Merendino, Sabine Guth, Daniel Bilbao, Concepción Martínez and Juan Valcárcel ()
Additional contact information
Livia Merendino: Gene Expression Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Sabine Guth: Gene Expression Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Daniel Bilbao: Gene Expression Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Concepción Martínez: Gene Expression Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Juan Valcárcel: Gene Expression Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Nature, 1999, vol. 402, issue 6763, 838-841

Abstract: Abstract The protein Sex-lethal (SXL) controls dosage compensation in Drosophila by inhibiting the splicing and translation of male-specific-lethal-2 (msl-2) transcripts1,2,3,4,5,6. Here we report that splicing inhibition of msl-2 requires a binding site for SXL at the polypyrimidine (poly(Y)) tract associated with the 3′ splice site, and an unusually long distance between the poly(Y) tract and the conserved AG dinucleotide at the 3′ end of the intron. Only this combination allows efficient blockage of U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle binding and displacement of the large subunit of the U2 auxiliary factor (U2AF65) from the poly(Y) tract by SXL. Crosslinking experiments with ultraviolet light indicate that the small subunit of U2AF (U2AF35) contacts the AG dinucleotide only when located in proximity to the poly(Y) tract. This interaction stabilizes U2AF65 binding such that SXL can no longer displace it from the poly(Y) tract. Our results reveal a novel function for U2AF35, a critical role for the 3′ splice site AG at the earliest steps of spliceosome assembly and the need for a weakened U2AF35–AG interaction to regulate intron removal.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/45602 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_45602

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

DOI: 10.1038/45602

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 ().