The Role of Splicing Factors and Small Nuclear RNAS in Spliceosomal Formation

Authors

Jason Andrew Somarelli, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Major/Program

Biology

First Advisor's Name

Rene J. Herrera

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Charles Bigger

Third Advisor's Name

Giri Narasimhan

Fourth Advisor's Name

Ophelia Weeks

Fifth Advisor's Name

George Duncan

Keywords

pre-mRNA splicing, splicesome, immunophilins, small nuclear RNA variants, FK506 binding proteins, RNA processing

Date of Defense

6-16-2009

Abstract

Protein coding genes are comprised of protein-coding exons and non-protein-coding introns. The process of splicing involves removal of the introns and joining of the exons to form a mature messenger RNA, which subsequently undergoes translation into polypeptide. The spliceosome is a large, RNA/protein assembly of five small nuclear RNAs as well as over 300 proteins, which catalyzes intron removal and exon ligation. The selection of specific exons for inclusion in the mature messenger RNA is spatio-temporally regulated and results in production of an enormous diversity of polypeptides from a single gene locus. This phenomenon, known as alternative splicing, is regulated, in part, by protein splicing factors, which target the spliceosome to exon/intron boundaries. The first part of my dissertation (Chapters II and III) focuses on the discovery and characterization of the 45 kilodalton FK506 binding protein (FKBP45), which I discovered in the silk moth, Bombyx mori, as a U1 small nuclear RNA binding protein. This protein family binds the immunosuppressants FK506 and rapamycin and contains peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity, which converts polypeptides from cis to trans about a proline residue. This is the first time that an FKBP has been identified in the spliceosome. The second section of my dissertation (Chapters IV, V, VI and VII) is an investigation of the potential role of small nuclear RNA sequence variants in the control of splicing. I identified 46 copies of small nuclear RNAs in the 6X whole genome shotgun of the Bombyx mori p50T strain. These variants may play a role in differential binding of specific proteins that mediate alternative splicing. Along these lines, further investigation of U2 snRNA sequence variants in Bombyx mori demonstrated that some U2 snRNAs preferentially assemble into high molecular weight spliceosomal complexes over others. Expression of snRNA variants may represent another mechanism by which the cell is able to fine tune the splicing process.

Identifier

FI09061804

Recommended Citation

Somarelli, Jason Andrew, "The Role of Splicing Factors and Small Nuclear RNAS in Spliceosomal Formation" (2009). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 83.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/83