Skip to main content
PMC home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1992 Apr 25;20(8):1949–1957. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.8.1949

Phosphorothioate substitution identifies phosphate groups important for pre-mRNA splicing.

K L Maschhoff 1, R A Padgett 1
PMCID: PMC312311  PMID: 1579497

Abstract

Substitution of pre-mRNA in vitro splicing substrates with alpha-phosphorothioate ribonucleotide analogs has multiple effects on the processes of spliceosome formation and splicing. A major effect of substitution is on the splicing cleavage/ligation reactions. Substitution at the 5' splice junction blocks the first cleavage/ligation reaction while substitution at the 3' splice junction blocks the second cleavage/ligation reaction. A second effect of phosphorothioate substitution is the inhibition of spliceosome formation. A substitution/interference assay was used to determine positions where substitution inhibits spliceosome formation or splicing. Substitution in the 3' splice site polypyrimidine tract was found to inhibit spliceosome formation and splicing. This effect was enhanced with multiple substitutions in the region. No sites of substitution within the exons were found which affected spliceosome formation or splicing.

Full text

PDF
1949

Images in this article

1951Image
on p.1951
1953Image
on p.1953
1954Image
on p.1954
1955Image
on p.1955
1955Image
on p.1955

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bindereif A., Green M. R. Ribonucleoprotein complex formation during pre-mRNA splicing in vitro. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Jul;6(7):2582–2592. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.7.2582. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chabot B., Black D. L., LeMaster D. M., Steitz J. A. The 3' splice site of pre-messenger RNA is recognized by a small nuclear ribonucleoprotein. Science. 1985 Dec 20;230(4732):1344–1349. doi: 10.1126/science.2933810. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chabot B., Steitz J. A. Multiple interactions between the splicing substrate and small nuclear ribonucleoproteins in spliceosomes. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Jan;7(1):281–293. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.1.281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dahm S. C., Uhlenbeck O. C. Role of divalent metal ions in the hammerhead RNA cleavage reaction. Biochemistry. 1991 Oct 1;30(39):9464–9469. doi: 10.1021/bi00103a011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dignam J. D., Lebovitz R. M., Roeder R. G. Accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in a soluble extract from isolated mammalian nuclei. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Mar 11;11(5):1475–1489. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.5.1475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Eckstein F. Nucleoside phosphorothioates. Annu Rev Biochem. 1985;54:367–402. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.54.070185.002055. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. García-Blanco M. A., Jamison S. F., Sharp P. A. Identification and purification of a 62,000-dalton protein that binds specifically to the polypyrimidine tract of introns. Genes Dev. 1989 Dec;3(12A):1874–1886. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.12a.1874. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gerke V., Steitz J. A. A protein associated with small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles recognizes the 3' splice site of premessenger RNA. Cell. 1986 Dec 26;47(6):973–984. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90812-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gish G., Eckstein F. DNA and RNA sequence determination based on phosphorothioate chemistry. Science. 1988 Jun 10;240(4858):1520–1522. doi: 10.1126/science.2453926. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Griffiths A. D., Potter B. V., Eperon I. C. Stereospecificity of nucleases towards phosphorothioate-substituted RNA: stereochemistry of transcription by T7 RNA polymerase. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 May 26;15(10):4145–4162. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.10.4145. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Griffiths A. D., Potter B. V., Eperon I. C. Substitution of pre-mRNA with phosphorothioate linkages reveals a new splicing-related reaction. J Biol Chem. 1988 Sep 5;263(25):12295–12304. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Konarska M. M., Grabowski P. J., Padgett R. A., Sharp P. A. Characterization of the branch site in lariat RNAs produced by splicing of mRNA precursors. Nature. 1985 Feb 14;313(6003):552–557. doi: 10.1038/313552a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Konarska M. M., Padgett R. A., Sharp P. A. Recognition of cap structure in splicing in vitro of mRNA precursors. Cell. 1984 Oct;38(3):731–736. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90268-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Konarska M. M., Sharp P. A. Electrophoretic separation of complexes involved in the splicing of precursors to mRNAs. Cell. 1986 Sep 12;46(6):845–855. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90066-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Krämer A. Analysis of RNase-A-resistant regions of adenovirus 2 major late precursor-mRNA in splicing extracts reveals an ordered interaction of nuclear components with the substrate RNA. J Mol Biol. 1987 Aug 5;196(3):559–573. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(87)90032-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lang K. M., Keller W. Sequence requirements in different steps of the pre-mRNA splicing reaction: analysis by the RNA modification-exclusion technique. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Sep;10(9):4942–4947. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.9.4942. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. McSwiggen J. A., Cech T. R. Stereochemistry of RNA cleavage by the Tetrahymena ribozyme and evidence that the chemical step is not rate-limiting. Science. 1989 May 12;244(4905):679–683. doi: 10.1126/science.2470150. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Milligan J. F., Uhlenbeck O. C. Determination of RNA-protein contacts using thiophosphate substitutions. Biochemistry. 1989 Apr 4;28(7):2849–2855. doi: 10.1021/bi00433a016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Padgett R. A., Konarska M. M., Grabowski P. J., Hardy S. F., Sharp P. A. Lariat RNA's as intermediates and products in the splicing of messenger RNA precursors. Science. 1984 Aug 31;225(4665):898–903. doi: 10.1126/science.6206566. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Patton J. G., Mayer S. A., Tempst P., Nadal-Ginard B. Characterization and molecular cloning of polypyrimidine tract-binding protein: a component of a complex necessary for pre-mRNA splicing. Genes Dev. 1991 Jul;5(7):1237–1251. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.7.1237. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rajagopal J., Doudna J. A., Szostak J. W. Stereochemical course of catalysis by the Tetrahymena ribozyme. Science. 1989 May 12;244(4905):692–694. doi: 10.1126/science.2470151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Ruffner D. E., Uhlenbeck O. C. Thiophosphate interference experiments locate phosphates important for the hammerhead RNA self-cleavage reaction. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Oct 25;18(20):6025–6029. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.20.6025. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Rymond B. C., Rosbash M. A chemical modification/interference study of yeast pre-mRNA spliceosome assembly and splicing. Genes Dev. 1988 Apr;2(4):428–439. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.4.428. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Shapiro M. B., Senapathy P. RNA splice junctions of different classes of eukaryotes: sequence statistics and functional implications in gene expression. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Sep 11;15(17):7155–7174. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.17.7155. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Slim G., Gait M. J. Configurationally defined phosphorothioate-containing oligoribonucleotides in the study of the mechanism of cleavage of hammerhead ribozymes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Mar 25;19(6):1183–1188. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.6.1183. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Swanson M. S., Dreyfuss G. RNA binding specificity of hnRNP proteins: a subset bind to the 3' end of introns. EMBO J. 1988 Nov;7(11):3519–3529. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03228.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Tazi J., Alibert C., Temsamani J., Reveillaud I., Cathala G., Brunel C., Jeanteur P. A protein that specifically recognizes the 3' splice site of mammalian pre-mRNA introns is associated with a small nuclear ribonucleoprotein. Cell. 1986 Dec 5;47(5):755–766. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90518-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Wang X. D., Padgett R. A. Hydroxyl radical "footprinting" of RNA: application to pre-mRNA splicing complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Oct;86(20):7795–7799. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.20.7795. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Waring R. B. Identification of phosphate groups important to self-splicing of the Tetrahymena rRNA intron as determined by phosphorothioate substitution. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Dec 25;17(24):10281–10293. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.24.10281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Zamore P. D., Green M. R. Identification, purification, and biochemical characterization of U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein auxiliary factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Dec;86(23):9243–9247. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.23.9243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES