Relative exon affinities and suboptimal splice site signals lead to non-equivalence of two cassette exons.
Tau is a microtubule-associated protein whose transcript undergoes complex regulated splicing in the mammalian nervous system. Exons 2 and 3 of the gene are alternatively spliced cassettes in which exon 3 never appears independently of exon 2. Expression of tau minigene constructs in cells indicate that exon 2 resembles a constitutive exon, while a suboptimal branch point connected to exon 3 inhibits inclusion of exon 3 in the mRNA. Splicing of the two tau exons is controlled by their relative affinities for each other versus the affinities of their flanking exons for them.
Andreadis
A
A
Department of Neurology (Neuroscience), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Broderick
J A
JA
Kosik
K S
KS
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D012322:RNA Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016875:tau Proteins