Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1990 Sep;9(9):2775–2781. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07465.x

The molecular characterization of PRP6 and PRP9 yeast genes reveals a new cysteine/histidine motif common to several splicing factors.

P Legrain 1, A Choulika 1
PMCID: PMC551986  PMID: 2118103

Abstract

prp6 and prp9 thermosensitive (ts) mutants are affected in pre-mRNA splicing and transport from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. PRP6 and PRP9 wild-type alleles have been sequenced. DNA sequence analysis reveals homologies in the 5' and 3' non-coding regions, suggesting a common regulation of gene expression. PRP6 and PRP9 genes encode a 899 amino acid and a 530 amino acid protein, respectively. The PRP6 protein has repeated motifs that evoke helix-loop-helix structures. Both PRP6 and PRP9 proteins have cysteine/histidine motifs loosely related to those found in zinc finger proteins. The substitution of some, but not all, of these residues by directed mutagenesis has a critical effect on the protein function. Homology searches reveal that two other proteins known to be involved in the nuclear splicing pathway--the yeast PRP11 and the human U1C proteins--contain similar sequences. The five cysteine/histidine motifs found in these four proteins display amino acid similarities in addition to the cysteine and histidine residues, indicating that they participate in biological structures or functions related to the splicing process. In addition, PRP6 and PRP9 exhibit leucine repeat motifs which may be implicated in protein interactions. The prp6 and prp9 ts mutations have been mapped and sequenced.

Full text

PDF
2780

Selected References

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

  1. Anderson G. J., Bach M., Lührmann R., Beggs J. D. Conservation between yeast and man of a protein associated with U5 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein. Nature. 1989 Dec 14;342(6251):819–821. doi: 10.1038/342819a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bandziulis R. J., Swanson M. S., Dreyfuss G. RNA-binding proteins as developmental regulators. Genes Dev. 1989 Apr;3(4):431–437. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.4.431. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brody E., Abelson J. The "spliceosome": yeast pre-messenger RNA associates with a 40S complex in a splicing-dependent reaction. Science. 1985 May 24;228(4702):963–967. doi: 10.1126/science.3890181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chang T. H., Clark M. W., Lustig A. J., Cusick M. E., Abelson J. RNA11 protein is associated with the yeast spliceosome and is localized in the periphery of the cell nucleus. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Jun;8(6):2379–2393. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.6.2379. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cheng S. C., Abelson J. Spliceosome assembly in yeast. Genes Dev. 1987 Nov;1(9):1014–1027. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.9.1014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Frendewey D., Keller W. Stepwise assembly of a pre-mRNA splicing complex requires U-snRNPs and specific intron sequences. Cell. 1985 Aug;42(1):355–367. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80131-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Green M. R. Pre-mRNA splicing. Annu Rev Genet. 1986;20:671–708. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.20.120186.003323. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hahn S., Hoar E. T., Guarente L. Each of three "TATA elements" specifies a subset of the transcription initiation sites at the CYC-1 promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Dec;82(24):8562–8566. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.24.8562. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hartwell L. H., McLaughlin C. S., Warner J. R. Identification of ten genes that control ribosome formation in yeast. Mol Gen Genet. 1970;109(1):42–56. doi: 10.1007/BF00334045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Heinrichs V., Bach M., Winkelmann G., Lührmann R. U1-specific protein C needed for efficient complex formation of U1 snRNP with a 5' splice site. Science. 1990 Jan 5;247(4938):69–72. doi: 10.1126/science.2136774. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Henikoff S., Cohen E. H. Sequences responsible for transcription termination on a gene segment in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Aug;4(8):1515–1520. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.8.1515. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. 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]
  13. Kretzner L., Rymond B. C., Rosbash M. S. cerevisiae U1 RNA is large and has limited primary sequence homology to metazoan U1 snRNA. Cell. 1987 Aug 14;50(4):593–602. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90032-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kunkel T. A. Rapid and efficient site-specific mutagenesis without phenotypic selection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(2):488–492. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.2.488. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Landschulz W. H., Johnson P. F., McKnight S. L. The leucine zipper: a hypothetical structure common to a new class of DNA binding proteins. Science. 1988 Jun 24;240(4860):1759–1764. doi: 10.1126/science.3289117. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Legrain P., Rosbash M. Some cis- and trans-acting mutants for splicing target pre-mRNA to the cytoplasm. Cell. 1989 May 19;57(4):573–583. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90127-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Legrain P., Seraphin B., Rosbash M. Early commitment of yeast pre-mRNA to the spliceosome pathway. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Sep;8(9):3755–3760. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.9.3755. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Leszczynski J. F., Rose G. D. Loops in globular proteins: a novel category of secondary structure. Science. 1986 Nov 14;234(4778):849–855. doi: 10.1126/science.3775366. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Lossky M., Anderson G. J., Jackson S. P., Beggs J. Identification of a yeast snRNP protein and detection of snRNP-snRNP interactions. Cell. 1987 Dec 24;51(6):1019–1026. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90588-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lustig A. J., Lin R. J., Abelson J. The yeast RNA gene products are essential for mRNA splicing in vitro. Cell. 1986 Dec 26;47(6):953–963. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90810-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Maniatis T., Reed R. The role of small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles in pre-mRNA splicing. Nature. 1987 Feb 19;325(6106):673–678. doi: 10.1038/325673a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Marck C. 'DNA Strider': a 'C' program for the fast analysis of DNA and protein sequences on the Apple Macintosh family of computers. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Mar 11;16(5):1829–1836. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.5.1829. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Murre C., McCaw P. S., Baltimore D. A new DNA binding and dimerization motif in immunoglobulin enhancer binding, daughterless, MyoD, and myc proteins. Cell. 1989 Mar 10;56(5):777–783. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90682-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. O'Shea E. K., Rutkowski R., Kim P. S. Evidence that the leucine zipper is a coiled coil. Science. 1989 Jan 27;243(4890):538–542. doi: 10.1126/science.2911757. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Pikielny C. W., Rymond B. C., Rosbash M. Electrophoresis of ribonucleoproteins reveals an ordered assembly pathway of yeast splicing complexes. 1986 Nov 27-Dec 3Nature. 324(6095):341–345. doi: 10.1038/324341a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Pinto A. L., Steitz J. A. The mammalian analogue of the yeast PRP8 splicing protein is present in the U4/5/6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle and the spliceosome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Nov;86(22):8742–8746. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.22.8742. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Rosbash M., Harris P. K., Woolford J. L., Jr, Teem J. L. The effect of temperature-sensitive RNA mutants on the transcription products from cloned ribosomal protein genes of yeast. Cell. 1981 Jun;24(3):679–686. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90094-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Rose M. D., Novick P., Thomas J. H., Botstein D., Fink G. R. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic plasmid bank based on a centromere-containing shuttle vector. Gene. 1987;60(2-3):237–243. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(87)90232-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Ruby S. W., Abelson J. An early hierarchic role of U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein in spliceosome assembly. Science. 1988 Nov 18;242(4881):1028–1035. doi: 10.1126/science.2973660. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Ruskin B., Zamore P. D., Green M. R. A factor, U2AF, is required for U2 snRNP binding and splicing complex assembly. Cell. 1988 Jan 29;52(2):207–219. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90509-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Seraphin B., Rosbash M. Identification of functional U1 snRNA-pre-mRNA complexes committed to spliceosome assembly and splicing. Cell. 1989 Oct 20;59(2):349–358. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90296-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sillekens P. T., Beijer R. P., Habets W. J., van Venrooij W. J. Human U1 snRNP-specific C protein: complete cDNA and protein sequence and identification of a multigene family in mammals. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Sep 12;16(17):8307–8321. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.17.8307. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Struhl K. Helix-turn-helix, zinc-finger, and leucine-zipper motifs for eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins. Trends Biochem Sci. 1989 Apr;14(4):137–140. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(89)90145-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Vijayraghavan U., Abelson J. PRP18, a protein required for the second reaction in pre-mRNA splicing. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Jan;10(1):324–332. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.1.324. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Vijayraghavan U., Company M., Abelson J. Isolation and characterization of pre-mRNA splicing mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genes Dev. 1989 Aug;3(8):1206–1216. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.8.1206. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Vincent A. TFIIIA and homologous genes. The 'finger' proteins. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Jun 11;14(11):4385–4391. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.11.4385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Whittaker E., Lossky M., Beggs J. D. Affinity purification of spliceosomes reveals that the precursor RNA processing protein PRP8, a protein in the U5 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle, is a component of yeast spliceosomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Mar;87(6):2216–2219. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.6.2216. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Woolford J. L., Jr Nuclear pre-mRNA splicing in yeast. Yeast. 1989 Nov-Dec;5(6):439–457. doi: 10.1002/yea.320050604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. 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]
  40. Zaret K. S., Sherman F. DNA sequence required for efficient transcription termination in yeast. Cell. 1982 Mar;28(3):563–573. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90211-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Zillmann M., Zapp M. L., Berget S. M. Gel electrophoretic isolation of splicing complexes containing U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Feb;8(2):814–821. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.2.814. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES