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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, RNA, 3(19), p. 380-389, 2013

DOI: 10.1261/rna.036715.112

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HnRNPH1/H2, U1 snRNP, and U11 snRNP cooperate to regulate the stability of the U11-48K pre-mRNA

Journal article published in 2013 by Janne J. Turunen ORCID, Bhupendra Verma, Tuula A. Nyman, Mikko J. Frilander
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Alternative splicing (AS) is a major contributor to proteome diversity, but it also regulates gene expression by introducing premature termination codons (PTCs) that destabilize transcripts, typically via the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway. Such AS events often take place within long, conserved sequence elements, particularly in genes encoding various RNA binding proteins. AS-NMD is often activated by the protein encoded by the same gene, leading to a self-regulating feedback loop that maintains constant protein levels. However, cross-regulation between different RNA binding proteins is also common, giving rise to finely tuned regulatory networks. Recently, we described a feedback mechanism regulating two protein components of the U12-dependent spliceosome (U11-48K and U11/U12-65K) through a highly conserved sequence element. These elements contain a U11 snRNP-binding splicing enhancer (USSE), which, through the U11 snRNP, activates an upstream U2-type 3′ss, resulting in the degradation of the U11-48K mRNA by AS-NMD. Through phylogenetic analysis, we now identify a G-rich sequence element that is conserved in fishes as well as mammals. We show that this element binds hnRNPF/H proteins in vitro. Knockdown of hnRNPH1/H2 or mutations in the G-run both lead to enhanced activation of the 3′ss in vivo, suggesting that hnRNPH1/H2 proteins counteract the 3′ss activation. Furthermore, we provide evidence that U1 binding immediately downstream from the G-run similarly counteracts the U11-mediated activation of the alternative 3′ss. Thus, our results elucidate the mechanism in which snRNPs from both spliceosomes together with hnRNPH1/H2 proteins regulate the recognition and activation of the highly conserved alternative splice sites within the U11-48K pre-mRNA.