title: Primary structure of the human splicing factor ASF reveals similarities with Drosophila regulators.
abstract: We described previously the purification of a human protein, called alternative splicing factor (ASF), that can switch utilization of alternative 5' splice sites in an SV40 early pre-mRNA. We now report the isolation of a cDNA, designated ASF-1, that encodes this protein. ASF-1 consists of 248 amino acid residues, including an 80 residue RNA-binding domain at its N-terminus and a 50 residue C-terminal region that is 80% serine plus arginine. ASF-1 produced in E. coli can activate splicing in vitro and switch 5' splice-site utilization, establishing that the recombinant protein is sufficient to supply these activities. Analysis of additional cDNAs revealed that ASF pre-mRNA can itself be alternatively spliced, surprisingly, by utilization of a shared 5' splice site and two closely spaced 3' splice sites. Use of the upstream site results in a second mRNA (ASF-2) in which translation of the downstream exon occurs extensively in an alternative reading frame distinct from ASF-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Manley
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D012326:RNA Splicing; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D000068103:Serine-Arginine Splicing Factors
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012322:RNA Precursors; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000068103:Serine-Arginine Splicing Factors; D004247:DNA