CSHL team traces extensive networks regulating alternative RN... (ex called the splicesosome? What account...)

CSHL team traces extensive networks regulating alternative RNA splicing

Date:9/19/2008

ex called the splicesosome? What accounts for differing "edits" of the same RNA molecule under the direction of a given splicing factor? What can go wrong in splicing and how can such anomalies result in cellular dysfunctions that culminate in human diseases?

In their newly published research, Zhang and Krainer used a comprehensive set of computational methods to predict how and where the splicing factors Fox-1 and Fox-2 attach, or bind, to unedited target RNA transcripts. "The effect of splicing factors on the activation or repression of splicing often depends on the location and context of the RNA sequences they bind," Dr. Krainer explained.

It was known that the two proteins have the ability to home in on a stretch of RNA that bears a specific code ("UGCAUG"), although the presence of this sequence on an RNA is not sufficient to guarantee binding by Fox-1/2 proteins. "Prior to our experiments, only a handful of targets of this kind had been determined experimentally," Dr. Zhang observed. An authority on the application of computational methods to biological questions, Zhang and members of his lab generated predictions about Fox-1 and Fox-2 after closely examining the genomes of 28 different vertebrate species.

From conserved networks to disease targets

Experimental follow-up in the Krainer lab of the predicted binding sites indicated that between one-half and three-fourths of the thousands of computational binding-site predictionsand the corresponding alternative splicing patternswere correct. The fact that the predicted targets were conserved during evolution across distantly related species suggests the relative importance of Fox-1 and Fox-2 function in many living systems. Indeed, the experiments confirmed that the regulatory networks that govern the actions of the splicing factors are also conserved across species.

Perhaps most important, the team found, in Zhang's words, that "many of the predicte
'/>"/>

Contact: Peter Tarr
tarr123@gmail.com
516-367-8455
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Source:Eurekalert

1

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4
Related biology news :

1. Computer program traces ancestry using anonymous DNA samples
2. Technique traces origins of disease genes in mixed human populations
3. UC biology prof traces his roots to the first Earth Day
4. Glowing films developed by UC San Diego chemists reveal traces of explosives
5. BASF and Harvard University announce extensive research collaboration
6. IdentiPHI Re Launches SAFmodule Software to Secure Novell(R) Networks
7. IdentiPHI Re Launches SAFmodule Software to Secure Novell(R) Networks
8. Alternative food networks connect ethical producers and consumers and can lead to healthier eating
9. Solidus Networks, Inc. Seats New Board of Directors
10. Gene Networks in Animal Development and Evolution Feb. 15 and 16
11. Nature paper describes technique for extracting hierarchical structure of networks

Post Your Comments:

CSHL team traces extensive networks regulating alternative RN...(ex called the splicesosome? What account...)