Fig. 8. Multilayered control of splicing regulatory networks by DAP3 leads to widespread alternative splicing changes in cancer.

There are two distinct mechanisms of how DAP3 exerts its splicing regulatory functions. First, DAP3 directly binds to target RNA and mediates the recruitment of splicing factors, such as SFPQ and NONO, to the binding sites. Another mechanism involves indirect modulation of splicing through fine-tuning the splicing pattern of hundreds of splicing factors by DAP3. When DAP3 is overexpressed in many cancer types, global splicing changes can be observed and contribute to tumorigenesis.