Phosphorylated Ser/Arg-rich proteins: limiting factors in the assembly of 200S large nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles.

We have previously shown that specific nuclear pre-mRNA transcripts and their splicing products, as well as the general population of nuclear poly(A)+ RNA, are packaged in large nuclear ribonucleoprotein (InRNP) particles that sediment at the 200S region in sucrose gradients. The InRNP particles contain all uridine-rich small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes required for pre-mRNA splicing, as well as protein splicing factors. In this paper we show that all of the phosphorylated, mAb 104 detectable, Ser/Arg-rich essential splicing factors (SR proteins) in the nucleoplasm are integral components of the InRNP particles, whereas only part of the essential splicing factor U2AF65 (U2 snRNP auxiliary factor) and the polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB) are associated with these particles. This finding suggests a limiting role for SR proteins in the assembly of the InRNP particles. We further show that the structural integrity of InRNP particles is sensitive to variations in the phosphorylation levels of the SR proteins.

Magnesium cations are required for the association of U small nuclear ribonucleoproteins and SR proteins with pre-mRNA in 200 S large nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles.

In previous studies we have shown that specific nuclear pre-mRNAs and their splicing products, as well as the general population of nuclear poly(A)+ RNA, are found packaged in 200 S large nuclear ribonucleoprotein (lnRNP) particles that represent the splicing machinery in vivo. The lnRNP particles contain all U small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) required for splicing, as well as several proteins including non-snRNP splicing factors. Here we show that upon addition of EDTA to sucrose gradient-fractionated 200 S particles, part of their components (e.g. part of the U snRNPs) are no longer associated with pre-mRNAs, which are now packaged in 70 S particles. This 200 S to 70 S transition makes the pre-mRNA more susceptible to digestion by RNase. The effect of EDTA is reversible, as back addition of Mg2+ results in the reconstitution into 200 S lnRNP particles of: (1) all five snRNPs required for splicing; (2) the SR proteins; and (3) CAD mRNA, as a representative of nuclear RNA polymerase II transcripts. Remarkably, electron microscopy of the reconstituted particles shows a compact structure, 50 nm in diameter, that is indistinguishable from the original undissociated particles. We conclude that Mg2+ is required for the integrity of the 200 S lnRNP particles.

Heat shock affects 5' splice site selection, cleavage and ligation of CAD pre-mRNA in hamster cells, but not its packaging in InRNP particles.

The effect of heat shock on the packaging and splicing of nuclear CAD pre-mRNA, a transcript expressed constitutively from a non heat-inducible promoter, was studied in vivo in Syrian hamster cells. While mild heat shock did not affect significantly the packaging of CAD RNA in 200S InRNP particles, it caused perturbation to splicing. First, the heat shock inhibited splicing of CAD pre-mRNA. Second, it affected 5' splice site selection by activating cleavage at a cryptic 5' splice site; yet ligation of the cryptic exon to the downstream proximal exon was not observed. Base complementarities of the cryptic site with U1, U5, or U6 snRNAs are comparable, or even better, than those with the neighboring normal site. Hence, the exclusion of the cryptic site under normal growth conditions cannot be attributed to weaker base pairing with these snRNAs. On the other hand, these results imply the involvement of a heat labile factor in the selection of the 5' cleavage site. The exclusion of the cryptic site at 37 degrees C and the aborted splicing at this site after heat shock may also be explained by a proposed nuclear checking mechanism that detects in-frame stop codons upstream of the 5' splice site, and aborts splicing at such sites to prevent the production of a defective message.