Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2000, p. 8303-8318, Vol. 20, No. 22
Department of Biochemistry, University of
Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH,1 and MRC
Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU,
United Kingdom5; Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
11724-22082; Department of Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology, University of Miami School of Medicine,
Miami, Florida 33136-10193; and
Department of Biology, Marquette University, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin 532334
Received 26 May 2000/Returned for modification 13 July
2000/Accepted 24 August 2000
The first component known to recognize and discriminate among
potential 5' splice sites (5'SSs) in pre-mRNA is the U1 snRNP. However,
the relative levels of U1 snRNP binding to alternative 5'SSs do not
necessarily determine the splicing outcome. Strikingly, SF2/ASF, one of
the essential SR protein-splicing factors, causes a dose-dependent
shift in splicing to a downstream (intron-proximal) site, and yet it
increases U1 snRNP binding at upstream and downstream sites
simultaneously. We show here that hnRNP A1, which shifts splicing
towards an upstream 5'SS, causes reduced U1 snRNP binding at both
sites. Nonetheless, the importance of U1 snRNP binding is shown by
proportionality between the level of U1 snRNP binding to the downstream
site and its use in splicing. With purified components, hnRNP A1
reduces U1 snRNP binding to 5'SSs by binding cooperatively and
indiscriminately to the pre-mRNA. Mutations in hnRNP A1 and SF2/ASF
show that the opposite effects of the proteins on 5'SS choice are
correlated with their effects on U1 snRNP binding. Cross-linking
experiments show that SF2/ASF and hnRNP A1 compete to bind pre-mRNA,
and we conclude that this competition is the basis of their functional
antagonism; SF2/ASF enhances U1 snRNP binding at all 5'SSs, the rise in
simultaneous occupancy causing a shift in splicing towards the
downstream site, whereas hnRNP A1 interferes with U1 snRNP binding such
that 5'SS occupancy is lower and the affinities of U1 snRNP for the
individual sites determine the site of splicing.
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Selection of Alternative 5' Splice Sites: Role of
U1 snRNP and Models for the Antagonistic Effects of SF2/ASF and
hnRNP A1

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biochemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United
Kingdom. Phone: 44 116 2523482. Fax: 44 116 2523369. E-mail:
eci{at}le.ac.uk.
Present address: Max-Planck-Institut fur Biophysikalische Chemie,
Abt. Zellulare Biochemie, 37077 Gottingen, Germany.
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