Funding Organization(s): European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), H2020 Marie Curie Actions of the European Commission, European Research Council (ERC), German Research Foundation (DFG)
To initiate cotranscriptional splicing, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) recruits the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (U1 snRNP) to nascent precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA). Here, we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of a mammalian transcribing Pol II-U1 snRNP complex ...
To initiate cotranscriptional splicing, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) recruits the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (U1 snRNP) to nascent precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA). Here, we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of a mammalian transcribing Pol II-U1 snRNP complex. The structure reveals that Pol II and U1 snRNP interact directly. This interaction positions the pre-mRNA 5' splice site near the RNA exit site of Pol II. Extension of pre-mRNA retains the 5' splice site, leading to the formation of a "growing intron loop." Loop formation may facilitate scanning of nascent pre-mRNA for the 3' splice site, functional pairing of distant intron ends, and prespliceosome assembly. Our results provide a starting point for a mechanistic analysis of cotranscriptional spliceosome assembly and the biogenesis of mRNA isoforms by alternative splicing.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. patrick.cramer@mpibpc.mpg.de.
Download Mendeley
