期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1994
卷号:91
期号:8
页码:3363-3367
DOI:10.1073/pnas.91.8.3363
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:ASF/SF2 is a human protein previously shown to function in in vitro pre-mRNA splicing as an essential factor necessary for all splices and also as an alternative splicing factor, capable of switching selection of 5' splice sites. To begin to study the protein's mechanism of action, we have investigated the RNA binding properties of purified recombinant ASF/SF2. Using UV crosslinking and gel shift assays, we demonstrate that the RNA binding region of ASF/SF2 can interact with RNA in a sequence-specific manner, recognizing the 5' splice site in each of two different pre-mRNAs. Point mutations in the 5' splice site consensus can reduce binding by as much as a factor of 100, with the largest effects observed in competition assays. These findings support a model in which ASF/SF2 aids in the recognition of pre-mRNA 5' splice sites.