Promoter proximal splice sites enhance transcription.
Reconstruction of a gene with its introns removed results in reduced levels of cytoplasmic mRNA. This is partly explained by introns promoting the export of mRNA through coupling splicing to nuclear export processes. However, we show here that splicing signals can have a direct role in enhancing gene transcription. Removal of promoter proximal splice signals from a mammalian gene or the excision of introns from two different yeast genes results in a marked reduction in levels of nascent transcription, based on both nuclear run-on and direct image analysis. This further establishes that mRNA processing and transcription are tightly coupled mechanisms.
Furger
Andre
A
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, United Kingdom.
O'Sullivan
Justin M
JM
Binnie
Alexandra
A
Lee
Barbara A
BA
Proudfoot
Nick J
NJ
D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D022821:RNA Splice Sites / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D012333:RNA, Messenger