title: RS domains contact the pre-mRNA throughout spliceosome assembly.
abstract: SR proteins are essential metazoan splicing factors that contain an RNA-binding domain and an arginine/serine-rich domain that functions to promote assembly of the spliceosome. The prevailing model over the past several years suggests that the RS domains function as protein-interaction domains. However, two new papers from Green et al. demonstrate that these RS domains directly contact the pre-mRNA within the functional spliceosome. The sequential character of these contacts suggests that RS domain interactions with RNA promote spliceosome assembly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4025, USA. khertel@uci.edu
authors.forename: Klemens J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hertel
authors.forename: Brenton R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Graveley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D008954:Models, Biological; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017381:Spliceosomes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012322:RNA Precursors; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins