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. 1988 Mar;7(3):809–817. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02879.x

The role of the polypyrimidine stretch at the SV40 early pre-mRNA 3' splice site in alternative splicing.

X Y Fu 1, H Ge 1, J L Manley 1
PMCID: PMC454396  PMID: 2840286

Abstract

We have studied the role in pre-mRNA splicing of the nucleotide sequence preceding the SV40 early region 3' splice site. Somewhat surprisingly, neither the pyrimidine at the highly conserved -3 position, nor the polypyrimidine stretch that extends from -5 to -15, relative to the 3' splice site, were found to be required for efficient splicing. Mutations that delete this region or create polypurine insertions at position -2 had no significant effects on the efficiency of SV40 early pre-mRNA splicing in vivo or in vitro. Interestingly, however, the pyrimidine content of this region had substantial effects on the alternative splicing pattern of this pre-mRNA in vivo. Mutations that increased the number of pyrimidine residues resulted in more efficient utilization of the large T antigen mRNA 5' splice site relative to the small t 5' splice site, while mutations that increased the purine content enhanced small t mRNA splicing. A possible molecular mechanism for these findings, as well as a model that proposes a role for the polypyrimidine stretch in alternative splicing, are discussed.

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